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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
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https://archive.org/details/throughbiblelandOOscha_0 


THROUGH 


BIBLE  LANDS: 

NOTES  OF  TRAVEL 

IN 

EGYPT,  THE  DESERT,  AND  PALESTINE 

BY  PHILIP  SCHAFF,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

PROFESSOR  OF  BIBLICAL  LEARNING  IN  THE  UNION  THEOL.  SEMINARY,  NEW  YORK. 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY, 

I  50  NASSAU  STREET,  NEW  YORK. 


COPYRIGHT,  1S78, 

BY  AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY. 


SACRED 


TO  THE  MEMORY 


MY  DAUGHTER  META, 


WHOSE  LAMENTED  DEATH  WAS  THE  OCCASION  OF  THIS  BOOK. 


I 


PREFACE. 


These  sketches  of  Bible  Lands  for  Bible  readers  have  grown  out 
of  a  series  of  familiar  letters  which  I  wrote  from  the  banks  of  the 
Nile,  and  from  the  tent  in  the  Wilderness  and  in  Palestine;  remem¬ 
bering  that  those  who  enjoy  the  privilege  of  travelling  abroad  ought 
to  give  to  their  friends  at  home  the  benefit  of  their  experience.  In 
the  process  of  reconstruction  the  letters  have  grown  into  chapters 
and  lost  somewhat  the  freshness  of  first  impressions,  but  gained,  I 
trust,  in  solidity  and  instructiveness.'  Bible  Lands,  like  the  Bible 
itself,  are  of  such  universal  and  such  perennial  interest  that  they 
will  continually  demand  new  books  and  new  comments. 

The  object  of  the  book  is  to  give  the  general  reader  a  clear  idea 
of  the  actual  condition  and  prospects  of  the  East  by  a  simple  nar¬ 
rative  of  what  I  saw  and  heard  and  felt  on  the  spot.  I  am  not  an 
explorer,  like  my  honored  predecessor  and  friend,  Dr.  Robinson, 
whose  Biblical  Researxhes,  though  written  forty  years  ago,  are  still 
the  highest  authority  in  Biblical  geography ;  neither  am  I  gifted 
with  that  genius  for  word-painting  which  imparts  to  Dean  Stanley’s 
Sinai  and  Palestine  the  charm  of  a  novel.  But  without  entering 
into  learned  discussions,  I  have  given  the  results  of  the  latest  in¬ 
vestigations  as  far  as  I  was  able  to  verify  them  by  personal  obser¬ 
vation.  I  have  also  paid  much  attention  to  the  missionary  schools 
and  churches  which  represent  the  Orient  of  the  future. 

A  domestic  affliction  was  the  sad  occasion  for  this  my  first  jour¬ 
ney  to  the  East.  I  went  with  no  intention  to  write  a  book,  but  to 
gain  relief,  and  fresh  inspiration  for  Bible  studies.  I  left  New 
York  with  my  wife  and  only  surviving  daughter  in  December,  1876, 

L‘= 


6 


PREFACE. 


passed  rapidly  through  England,  France,  and  Italy,  and  spent  the 
winter  and  spring  in  Egypt,  the  Sinaitic  Wilderness,  Palestine  and 
Syria.  I  then  visited,  during  the  Russian  and  Turkish  war,  Cyprus, 
Smyrna,  Constantinople,  and  Athens,  and  returned  by  way  of 
Trieste,  Venice,  Switzerland,  Germany,  England,  and  Scotland, 
reaching  New  York  again  in  August,  1877.  While  in  Africa  and 
Asia  I  enjoyed  almost  perpetual  sunshine.  I  was  reported  impris¬ 
oned  and  even  massacred  in  the  Great  Desert,  but  not  a  hair  of 
my  head  has  been  hurt.  I  met  kind  Christian  friends  and  brethren 
everywhere.  The  shadows  of  death  followed  me,  but  the  God  of 
Israel  went  before  me  in  a  pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  in  a  pillar  of 
fire  by  night. 

I  shall  ever  look  back  to  this  eastern  journey  with  pleasure  and 
gratitude,  and  shall  feel  abundantly  repaid  if  this  unpretending 
record  of  my  experience  will  help  the  reader  to  a  better  under, 
standing  of  the  Book  of  books,  and  a  deeper  interest  in  the  revival 
of  true  Christianity  in  the  land  of  its  birth. 

PHILIP  SCHAFF. 

New  York,  October,  1878. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  I.  Bible  Lands  . page 

PART  FIRST: 

EGYPT. 

CHAP.  H.  From  New  York  to  Alexandria - - - 

CHAP.  III.  Alexandria . . . - . - . - 

CHAP.  IV.  Cairo . . - . . 

CHAP.  V.  The  Pyramids  . - . . . . 

CHAP.  VI.  Heliopolis . - . - . . . .  . . 

CHAP.  VH.  Up  the  Nile . . . . . 

CHAP.  VHI.  Luxor  and  Thebes . . - . . 

CHAP.  IX.  From  Luxor  to  Philae . . . 

CPIAP.  X.  Egyptology  and  the  Bible - - -  — 


CHAP.  XL  Ancient  and  Modern  Egypt  Compared . .  i 

CHAP.  XII.  The  Mohammedan  Religion . .  i 

CHAP.  XHI.  Christianity  in  Egypt 


1 1 

19 

25 

31 

39 

56 

62 

73 

7S 

82 

04 

to 


122 


CONTENTS. 


PART  SECOND. 

THE  SINAITIC  PENINSULA. 


CHAP.  XIV.  Thirty  Days  or  the  Camel  . - . .  133 

CHAP.  XV.  The  Great  Wilderness  . - . . t45 

CHAP.  XVI.  ’Ayun  Musa  and  the  Exodus . . .  150 

CHAP.  XVH.  From ’Ayun  Musa  to  Mount  Sinai . .  163 

CHAP.  XVHI.  Mount  Sinai . . - . . 171 

CHAP.  XIX.  The  Convent  of  St.  Catharine . . 184 

CHAP.  XX.  From  Mount  Sinai  to  Gaza . - .  196 


PART  THIRD. 

THE  HOL  V  LANE. 

CHAP.  XXI.  Hebron . - .  207 

CHAP.  XXII.  Bethlehem  . 220 

CHAP.  XXIH.  Jerusalem  .  232 

CHAP.  XXIV.  Religion  in  Jerusalem . . . - . 240 

CHAP.  XXV.  Mount  Moriah,  and  the  Dome  of  the  Rock . .  253 

CHAP.  XXVI.  Calvary,  and  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre - 259 

CHAP.  XXVII.  Mount  Olivet,  and  Bethany  .  271 

CHAP.  XXVHI.  The  Convent  of  Mar  Saba . - . -  278 

CHAP.  XXIX.  The  Dead  Sea . - . - .  283 


CONTENTS. 


9 

CHAP.  XXX.  The  Jordan . - . . . 296 

CHAP.  XXXI.  Samaria . . - . 30S 

CHAP.  XXXH.  Nazareth . - . 320 

CHAP.  XXXIH.  Tabor  and  Hermon . 330 

CHAP.  XXXIV.  The  Lake  of  Galilee . 337 

CHAP.  XXXV.  Capernaum,  Bethsaida,  and  Chorazin .  343 

CHAP.  XXXVI.  Caesartea  Philippi . 355 

CHAP.  XXXVH.  Damascus . . 361 

CHAP.  XXXVIH.  Beirut . 373 

CHAP.  XXXIX.  Farewell  to  the  Holy  Land . 3S3 

CHAP.  XL.  The  Regeneration  of  the  Orient . — .  391 

Meaning  of  Arabic  Words . . . . . 407 

Alphabetical  Index . . . . . .  409 


MAPS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Bethlehem . - . - . Frontispiece 

Pare  in  Cairo  - - - - -  —  - -  —  _ _ _ j 

Ascent  of  the  Pyramid  . . . . 

The  Sphin-x  and  a  Pyramid . ^7 

Luxor:  from  the  Nile . . 

'  /o 

Orelisk  of  On . . . . . . . . 

/  j 

Colossi  of  Memnon:  Thebes - - - Si 

Temple  of  Aboo  Simbel . . . . 8i 

Map  of  Egypt  and  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula . - . 145 

Camel-riding . 139 

Mount  Serbal . . . . - . - . --181 

Map  of  Palestine  in  the  Time  of  Christ - 207 

Hebron - - - 209 

Mount  Olivet  and  Gethsemane . . --209 

Rachel’s  Tomb . . . - - - - 218 

Jerusalem  :  from  the  Mount  of  Olives . 232 

Pool  of  Hezekiah . 237 

Jaffa - - — . . . . . . 238 

Via  Dolorosa . - . . 241 

Mosque  of  Omar . . . - . 

Bethany . . . . -  -  - - - - 273 

Plain  Er-Rahah,  and  Convent  of  St.  Catharine . . 281 

Convent  of  Mar-Saba . . - . . --281 

Jericho  and  the  Dead  Sea - - - - . 298 

Ruined  Fountain  at  Jericho . -305 

Shechf-m . - . . 314 

Nazareth- . . . - . -314 

Mount  Tabor . . . — . 330 

Tiberias  and  the  Sea  of  Galilee . - . 339 

Damascus - - - - . . . 361 

Tyre 


37S 


THROUGH 


Bible  Lands. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Introductory — Egypt  —  The  Desert — Palestine — Mode 
of  Travel  in  the  East — Novelty  of  Scenes — Practi¬ 
cal  Use. 

Dear  reader,  I  propose  to  take  you  on  a  flying  visit 
to  Bible  lands,  and  to  give  you  in  a  few  leisure  hours 
an  outline  of  what  I  saw  in  five  months.  February  is 
the  best  season  for  Egypt,  March  for  the  wilderness, 
April  and  May  for  Palestine  and  Syria,  June  for  Greece 
and  Italy.  In  Egypt  we  sail  on  the  Nile  and  ride  on  the 
donkey,  in  the  Desert  we  use  the  camel,  in  Palestine  and 
Syria  the  horse.  But  you  may  do  all  this  on  the  swift 
wings  of  your  imagination,  while  sitting  in  your  easy- 
chair  at  home. 

The  progress  of  actual  travel  in  the  Orient  is  slow, 
but  not  too  slow  for  enjoyment  and  instruction.  A  whole 
day  is  required  for  a  distance  which  can  be  traversed  by 
railway  in  an  hour.  The  mode  of  travelling  in  the 
Desert,  the  Holy  Land,  and  in  parts  of  Egypt,  is  the 
same  as  in  the  days  of  the  patriarchs,  more  than  three 


12 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


thousand  years  ago,  and  that  is  one  of  its  peculiar 
charms,  which  will  be  broken  when  modern  civilization 
shall  have  penetrated  the  East.  We  engage  a  dragoman, 
who  provides  the  outfit  and  acts  as  interpreter  between 
the  traveller  and  the  Arab  servants.  We  take  with  us 
a  caravan  of  Bedawin,  with  tents,  provision,  and  cook¬ 
ing  apparatus.  There  are  no  turnpikes,  no  carriages,  no 
hotels,  except  a  few  in  the  large  cities,  kept  by  Euro¬ 
peans.  The  Arab  inns  or  khans  are  forbidding  and 
destitute  of  all  comforts  required  by  civilized  people.  I 
spent  a  night  in  the  convent  of  Mar  Saba,  and  another 
in  an  inn  at  Jericho,  kept  by  a  Greek,  but  lost  my  sleep 
by  those  unmentionable  little  creatures  with  which 
Beelzebub  tries  the  patience  of  man. 

In  the  Orient  all  is  primitive  and  novel  to  Europeans 
and  Americans.  Their  first  impression  is  wonderment 
at  the  strange  sights  of  men  and  things  which  appear  to 
them  like  a  masquerade  or  fancy-fair  gotten  up  for  their 
special  amusement.  The  Orientals,  judged  by  Western 
habits,  do  everything  the  wrong  way :  they  eat  with  the 
fingers ;  they  sit,  not  on  chairs,  but  cross-legged  on  the 
floor  or  the  earth ;  they  keep  their  women  veiled  and 
out  of  public  sight ;  they  write  on  their  knees  and  from 
right  to  left ;  they  take  off  their  shoes  in  the  mosque 
and  keep  on  their  fez  or  turban.  Any  scrap  of  cotton, 
or  linen,  or  silk  of  any  color,  a  blanket,  a  shawl,  a  sash, 
a  shirt,  loosely  thrown  over  the  body,  serves  them  as  a 
dress ;  but  they  always  look  picturesque,  and  have  a 
native  courtesy  and  dignity  which  contrast  favorably 
with  their  otherwise  degraded  and  beggarly  condition. 


BENEFITS  OF  TRA  VEL. 


13 


Modern  civilization  is  monotonous,  it  has  a  tendency  to 
level  distinctions  and  to  impress  a  uniform  type  upon 
men  of  all  classes  of  society;  it  sets  up  the  dumb  idol  of 
fashion  which  rules  suprenre  over  crowned  monarchs 
and  republican  presidents.  In  the  East  there  is  much 
more  independence  and  variety ;  there  the  Arab,  the 
Turk,  the  Armenian,  the  Maronite,  the  Copt,  the  Jew, 
the  Nubian,  the  Bedawin,  the  dervish,  the  priest,  the 
official,  the  merchant,  the  mechanic,  the  barber,  the 
dragoman,  the  donkey-boy,  the  runner,  the  singer,  the 
serpent-charmer,  the  fruit-seller,  the  water-carrier,  the 
slave,  the  beggar — all  appear  in  their  distinct  individ¬ 
uality  and  costume;  each  consults  his  own  taste  or 
whim,  and  is  never  disturbed  by  the  ever-changing  fash¬ 
ions  of  Paris. 

What  is  the  use  of  travelling  in  the  East  ?  Does  it 
repay  for  all  the  time,  the  money,  the  fatigue,  the  vexa¬ 
tion  and  annoyance  inseparable  from  it  ?  The  benefit 
of  travel  depends  upon  the  disposition  and  preparation 
of  the  traveller.  Such  preparation  is  especially  neces¬ 
sary  in  the  East.  The  more  knowledge  we  carry  with  us, 
the  more  we  shall  bring  back.  Multitudes  of  travellers 
return  as  ignorant  and  empty  as  they  start;  while  others, 
from  the  study  of  books,  may  become  as  familiar  with 
foreign  nations  and  countries  as  with  their  own.  For¬ 
tunately  it  is  not  necessary  for  the  majority  of  readers 
to  visit  Bible  lands  in  order  to  understand  the  Bible,  any 
more  than  it  is  to  know  Greek  and  Plebrew.  Some  of 
the  best  Biblical  scholars  and  commentators  —  Augus¬ 
tine,  Luther,  Calvin,  Grotius,  Matthew  Henry,  Bengel, 
2 


14 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Olshausen,  Hengstenberg,  Tholuck,  Meyer,  Ewald — 
never  visited  the  Holy  Land.  Dean  Howson  prepared 
the  geographical  sections  which  gave  the  work  on  the 
“  Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  ”  such  a  wide  popularity, 
merely  from  books.  Even  the  founder  of  the  science 
of  comparative  geography,  Carl  Ritter,  never  saw  Pal¬ 
estine  and  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula  which  he  so  fully  and 
so  accurately  described. 

But  after  all  it  is  an  inestimable  advantage  to  see 
with  one’s  own  eyes  the  birthplaces  of  the  authors  of  the 
Sacred  Writings,  and  their  surroundings,  and  to  be  able 
to  speak  from  personal  observation  and  experience.  Man¬ 
ners  and  customs  are  so  stationary  in  the  East,  that  you 
are  transferred  as  by  magic  to  the  age  of  the  apostles, 
the  prophets,  and  the  patriarchs.  A  flood  of  light  is 
thrown  on  the  meaning  of  innumerable  passages  which 
appear  strange  at  a  distance,  but  quite  natural  on  the 
spot.  A  thoughtful  traveller  fills  his  memory  with  a 
gallery  of  photographic  pictures  more  valuable  than  any 
number  of  books.  Whenever  he  reads  afterwards  of  the 
visits  of  Abraham,  Joseph  and  Jacob  to  Egypt,  the  mir¬ 
acles  of  Moses,  the  wanderings  of  the  Israelites,  of  Hebron, 
Bethlehem,  Nazareth,  the  Dead  Sea,  the  river  Jordan, 
the  Lake  of  Gennesaret,  Mount  Hermon,  the  cedars  of 
Lebanon,  Jerusalem,  Bethany,  Gethsemane,  and  Mount 
Olivet,  the  places  and  scenes  rise  up  before  his  mental  eye 
with  a  vividness  which  they  never  had  before.  The 
ruinous  condition  of  those  countries  may  diminish  the 
poetry,  but  the  impression  of  the  reality  is  deepened. 
Palestine  has  not  been  inaptly  termed  “  the  fifth  Gospel.” 


BENEFITS  OF  TRA  VEL. 


15 


It  is  the  framework  in  which  the  canonical  GosjDels  are 
set.  I  would  advise  every  theological  student  who  can 
afford  it,  to  complete  his  Biblical  education  by  a  visit  to 
the  Holy  Land.  It  will  be  of  more  practical  use  to  him 
in  his  pulpit  labors  than  the  lectures  of  the  professors 
in  Oxford  or  Cambridge,  in  Berlin  or  Leipzig,  valuable 
as  these  may  be.  The  best  thing,  of  course,  is  to  com¬ 
bine  the  most  thorough  theoretical  study  and  personal 
experience  on  the  spot.  A  sound  and  correct  histor¬ 
ical  understanding  of  the  Bible  has  gained  much  from 
the  researches  of  scholarly  travellers,  and  will  gain 
still  more  in  time  to  come.  For  the  Holy  Scriptures 
have  a  human  body  as  well  as  a  divine  soul ;  they  strike 
their  roots  deep  in  the  soil  from  which  they  sprang,  while 
their  ideas  soar  to  heaven  ;  they  are  thoroughly  oriental, 
and  yet  wonderfully  adapted  for  all  mankind  in  all  ages 
of  the  world. 


If 


FIRST  PART. 

Egypt. 


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FIRST  FA.RT. 


Egypt. 


CHAPTER  II. 

FROAI  NEW  YORK  TO  ALEXANDRIA. 

Egypt — From  New  York  to  Brindisi — Corfu — Crete — 
Alexandria. 

Let  us  begin  with  Egypt,  the  country  of  the  Nile, 
the  land  of  pyramids  and  sphinxes,  of  temples  and  tombs, 
of  hieroglyphics  and  mummies,  of  sacred  bulls  and  croco¬ 
diles,  of  despotic  power  and  slavish  degradation.  There 
the  patriarchal -family  found  a  hospitable  home  and  grew 
into  a  nation ;  there  Joseph  rose  from  slavery  into  which 
he  was  sold  by  his  jealous  brothers,  to  the  highest  posi¬ 
tion  in  the  kingdom,  and  preserved  the  purity  of  his 
faith  and  character  amid  surrounding  idolatry  and  cor¬ 
ruption  ;  there  Moses  was  born  and  educated  in  all  the 
wisdom  of  the  Egyptians  ;  there  he  wrought  his  miracles 
and  became  the  leader  of  his  people  from  bondage  to 
freedom,  himself  a  pyramid  among  the  great  men  of 
antiquity — held  in  veneration  to  this  day  by  the  followers 
of  three  religions,  the  Christian,  the  Jewish,  and  the 
Mohammedan.  The  land  of  Egypt  is  imbedded  in  the 


20 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Decalogue  as  the  house  of  bondage  out  of  which  the 
Lord  God  brought  his  people.  Egypt  gave  shelter  to 
the  infant  Jesus  and  his  parents  against  the  wrath  of 
Herod,  and  the  venerable  tree  is  still  shown  near  Heli¬ 
opolis  under  which  Mary  and  Joseph  are  said  to  have 
rested  from  the  fatigue  of  their  journey.  In  a  double 
sense  it  is  true  what  was  spoken  by  the  Lord  through 
the  prophet,  “  Out  of  Egypt  have  I  called  my  son.” 

The  chief  attraction  to  the  traveller  are  the  ruins  of 
the  oldest  civilization  which  are  scattered  over  the  valley 
of  the  Nile  and  make  it  the  most  wonderful  valley  in  the 
world.  Egypt  is  a  green  garden  between  two  deserts, 
watered  by  the  noblest  river,  and  consecrated  by  the 
imperishable  memorials  of  a  history  of  five  thousand 
years.  “  I  shall  enlarge  upon  what  concerns  Egypt,” 
says  Herodotus,  the  father  of  history,  “because  it  con¬ 
tains  more  wonders  than  any  other  country,  and  because 
there  is  no  other  country  where  we  may  see  so  many 
works  which  are  admirable  and  beyond  all  expression.” 

After  a  rough  winter  passage  over  the  stormy  Atlantic 
and  the  equally  disagreeable  English  channel,  we  take 
the  railroad  at  Calais  and  rapidly  pass  through  Paris, 
Geneva,  the  tunnel  of  Mount  Cenis,  Turin,  Bologna, 
Florence,  Rome  and  Naples,  and  then,  turning  eastward, 
we  reach  Brindisi  on  the  southeastern  shore  of  Italy,  the 
starting  point  for  our  voyage  to  the  land  of  the  Pha¬ 
raohs.  I  congratulate  you  that  in  this  vicarious  mode  of 
travelling  you  are  spared  the  nasty  experience  of  sea¬ 
sickness  and  the  monotonous  prison  life  on  board  a 
crowded  ship  with  its  seventy  perfumes,  “  separate,  dis- 


NEW  YORK  TO  ALEXANDRIA. 


21 


tinct,  and  well  defined,”  which  I  never  smelled  at  Cologne, 
but  on  many  an  ocean  steamer.  A  Frenchman  on  pay¬ 
ing  his  tribute  to  Neptune,  well  remarked,  “  For  plaisir  I 
cross  the  ocean  ne-v-er !"  Sea-sickness  is  nowhere  better 
described  than  in  the  good  old  Bible  when  speaking  of 
those  who  “  reel  to  and  fro,”  who  “  stagger  like  a  drunken 
man,  abhor  all  manner  of  meat,  are  at  their  wit’s  end  and 
draw  near  unto  .the  gates  of  death.”  (Psa.  107.)  But 
we  soon  get  over  it  when  we  land,  and  feel  all  the  better 
for  the  process  of  purification.  The  passage  across  the 
European  continent  is  a  succession  of  pleasures  even  to 
an  old  traveller,  and  is  made  doubly  agreeable  by  meet¬ 
ing  good  friends  everywhere. 

We  leave  Brindisi  in  an  Austrian  steamer  on  Friday 
night,  January  26,  for  Corfu,  in  good  company — mostly 
English,  Scotch,  and  American.  Mr.  Thomas  Cook, 
from  London,  the  founder  and  head  of  the  now  famous 
firm,  “  Thomas  Cook  &  Son,”  is  with  us,  hoping  to  get 
rid  of  a  troublesome  cough  in  the  milder  climate  of 
Egypt.  Ele  is  a  plain,  self-educated,  enterprising  and 
energetic  Englishman,  now  about  seventy  years  of  age. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  takes  great 
interest  in  the  Baptist  missions  in  Rome  and  Naples. 
He  has  earned  the  gratitude  of  many  travellers  who  find 
it  a  great  convenience  to  use  his  tickets,  especially  in 
the  East. 

The  weather  is  threatening  and  reminds  us  of  the 
stormy  passage  of  Caesar  from  this  port,  and  his  stirring 
words  to  the  timid  captain :  “  Be  of  good  cheer !  Thou 
carriest  Caesar  and  his  fortunes !” 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


We  arrive  on  Saturday  afternoon  in  Corfu,  (Korkyra,) 
and  breathe  the  air  of  Greece,  that  wonderful  little  coun¬ 
try,  which  in  the  intellectual  and  artistic  progress  of  the 
world  occupies  as  prominent  a  position  as  little  Palestine 
does  in  the  history  of  religion.  Corfu  is  a  beautiful 
island,  with  a  fine  climate  and  southern  vegetation.  In 
1815  it  came  into  the  possession  of  the  English,  but  in 
1864  it  was  ceded  to  the  kingdom  of  Greece,  together 
with  the  other  Ionian  Islands,  Cephalonia  and  Zante. 
This  generous  act  is  mainly  due  to  the  exertions  of  the 
Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone,  whose  liberal  statesmanship  and 
Homeric  scholarship  made  him  a  friend  of  New  Hellas. 
The  inhabitants,  however,  with  all  their  Greek  patriotism, 
regret  the  loss  of  English  sovereigns  and  commercial 
prosperity  since  the  annexation.  Passing  through  the 
street,  we  are  pleasantly  entertained  by  the  Greek  signs 
on  the  houses  and  shops,  and  the  picturesque  costumes 
of  the  Greeks,  Albanians,  and  Montenegrins.  We  find 
comfortable  lodgings  in  the  St.  George’s  Hotel,  on  the 
Promenade,  opposite  the  royal  castle,  look  in  the  Lon¬ 
don  “Times”  for  the  latest  news,  and  enjoy  the  magnifi¬ 
cent  view  over  the  sea,  the  islands,  and  the  mountains  of 
Albania. 

On  Sunday  we  attend  mass  in  the  Greek  church  of 
St.  Spiridion,  the  patron-saint  of  the  Ionian  islands,  once 
Bishop  of  Cyprus,  and  a  member  of  the  council  of  Nicaea, 
who  even  after  his  consecration  remained  a  rustic  shepherd. 
P'rom  fear  that  he  might  disgrace  the  first  oecumenical 
assembly  of  Christendom  by  his  ignorance,  his  brother 
bishops  cut  off  the  heads  of  his  two  donkeys  ;  but  Spiri- 


NEW  YORK  TO  ALEXANDRIA. 


23 


dion,  the  legend  states,  performed  the  amazing  feat  of 
raising  the  donkeys  to  life,  reached  Nicaea  in  time  and 
voted  on  the  orthodox  side  and  for  the  condemnation  of 
Arius.  We  see  the  worshijDpers  crowd  around  his  silver 
coffin.  To  kiss  this  coffin  and  the  pictures  of  the  Sav¬ 
iour  and  the  Virgin  seems  to  be  the  chief  act  of  devotion 
in  Corfu.  After  mass  the  priest  distributes  pieces  of 
bread  to  the  people  who  kiss  his  hand.  This  half-com- 
m.Linion  is  a  commemoration  of  the  Agape  or  Love-feast 
of  the  primitive  church. 

From  the  early  Greek  service  we  proceed  at  eleven 
o’clock  to  the  English  Episcopal  chapel,  and  listen  to  an 
indifferent  sermonette  on  natural  religion,  in  which  the 
name  of  Christ  is  barely  mentioned  ;  while  the  Greek 
mass  made  me  at  least  think  of  the  cross  and  the  atone¬ 
ment.  I  do  not  know  to  which  party  the  officiating 
clergyman  belongs  ;  he  may  be  high  and  dry,  or  low 
and  slow ;  he  may  be  attitudinarian  or  platitudinarian ; 
but  he  is  certainly  neither  broad  nor  deep.  It  would 
of  course  be  great  injustice  to  take  his  dull  essay  for 
a  fair  specimen  of  the  sermons  of  Anglican  chaplains 
on  the  continent.  I  greatly  honor  the  Church  of 
England  for  her  active  interest  in  the  spiritual  benefit 
of  travellers,  and  I  often  enjoy  her  services.  If  the 
sermon  is  poor,  the  prayers  of  the  Liturgy  are  always 
good  and  edifying,  and  I  never  get  tired  of  the  Creed, 
the  Te  Deum,  and  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis. 

On  Monday  morning  we  sail  in  the  “  Hungaria,”  an 
Austrian  Lloyd  steamer,  which  came  from  Trieste,  for 
Egypt.  We  pass  the  Ionian  Islands,  Ithaca  (not  for- 


24 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


getting  faithful  Penelope  and  Ulysses’  return),  and 
Crete,  which  brings  vividly  to  mind  the  voyage  and  ship¬ 
wreck  of  St.  Paul.  The  weather  is  only  tolerable,  and 
some  of  us  fare  no  better  than  on  the  Atlantic.  As  far 
as  the  discomfort  of  this  prison  life  at  sea  will  permit,  we 
read  Paul’s  Epistle  to  Titus,  the  last  chapters  of  Acts, 
sections  from  Stanley’s  “  Sinai  and  Palestine,”  Murray’s 
“  Egypt,”  Wallace’s  “  Desert  and  the  Holy  Land,”  and 
Mark  Twain’s  “Innocents  Abroad.” 

On  Thursday,  the  ist  of  February,  we  come  in  sight 
of  Alexandria,  and  the  vision  of  the  Orient  flashes  over 
our  bewildered  eyes. 


ALEXANDRIA. 


25 


CHAPTER  III. 

ALEXANDRIA. 

The  Gate  of  Egypt— A  Babel  of  Nationalities  and 
Tongues — The  Donkey  Boys — Old  Alexandria — 
The  Column  of  Pompey,  and  the  Needles  of  Cleo¬ 
patra — Modern  Alexandria — Through  the  Delta 
and  to  Cairo. 

Alexandria  is  the  gate  of  Egypt.  As  soon  as  we 
arrive  in  the  harbor  we  are  surrounded  by  a  mob  of 
swarthy  and  tumultuous  Arabs,  with  a  fleet  of  boats,  most 
anxious  to  seize  the  passengers  and  their  baggage. 
Cook’s  agent  and  boatmen,  distinguished  by  red  shirts 
and  Cook’s  flag,  take  charge  of  us,  and  bring  us  in  a 
short  time  through  the  custom-house  to  the  Hotel  de 
I’Europe  on  the  Place  of  Mohammed  Ali. 

The  sight  of  Alexandria  is  a  fit  introduction  to 
Oriental  lands.  The  Babel  of  nationalities  and  tongues, 
the  shouting  and  fighting  of  turbaned,  bare-legged  and 
bare-footed  boatmen  and  donkey-boys,  the  picturesque 
dresses  of  all  shapes  and  colors,  the  poverty  and  wretch¬ 
edness,  the  everlasting  cry  for  “  backsheesh,”  which  here 
greets  us  for  the  first  time — all  is  novel  and  exciting. 
The  harbor  and  street  life  in  Naples  present  a  somewhat 
similar  scene. 

The  Arab  donkey-boys  are  a  characteristic  institu¬ 
tion  of  Egypt,  and  we  may  as  well  make  their  acquain¬ 
tance  at  once.  They  are  a  jolly,  good-natured,  quick- 

3 


lliblo  Lands. 


26 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


witted  and  importunate  set  of  vagabonds.  They  discern 
the  nationality  of  the  traveller  in  a  minute,  and  pick  up 
the  broken  fragments  of  half  a  dozen  tongues,  with  a 
decided  preference  for  the  English  as  the  most  profitable. 
They  recommend  their  long-eared  animals  to  a  German 
as  donkey  “  Bismarck,”  to  a  Frenchman  as  “  Napoleon,” 
or  “  Thiers,”  to  an  Englishman  as  “  Gladstone,”  or  “  Tich- 
borne,”  to  an  American  as  “  Grant,”  ”  Minnehaha,”  or 
“Yankee  Doodle.”  “My  donkey  good  donkey;”  “My 
donkey  speak  English.”  Nine-tenths  of  the  travellers  in 
the  East  are  English  and  Americans,  and  this  accounts 
for  the  rapid  spread  of  the  English  language  even  among 
the  donkey-boys  and  the  Bedawin  at  the  Pyramids.  It 
is  fast  gaining  on  the  Italian  and  French,  which  formerly 
were  the  only  medium  of  intercourse,  besides  the  native 
Arabic,  which  few  foreigners  acquire.  The  language  of 
Shakespeare  and  Milton  is  destined  to  be  the  cosmopolitan 
tongue.  It  carries  with  it  Christian  civilization  and 
liberty  and  the  richest  literature  in  the  world. 

The  modern  city  of  Alexandria  is  of  considerable 
commercial  importance,  and  numbers  more  than  200,000 
inhabitants,  including  50,000  Europeans.  But  the  Suez 
Canal  and  Port  Said  have  injured  its  trade. 

The  city  was  founded  by  Alexander  the  Great,  who 
was  buried  there.  Napoleon  said  that  Alexander  show¬ 
ed  more  genius  in  the  selection  of  this  spot  than  in  his 
victories,  and  that  this  city  which  could  harbor  all  the 
navies  was  destined  to  be  the  metropolis  of  the  world. 
It  became  the  capital  of  Egypt,  the  residence  of  the 
Ptolemies.  It  contained  in  the  days  of  its  glory  over 


ALEXANDRIA. 


27 


half  a  million  of  inhabitants.  It  was  the  centre  of  com¬ 
merce  between  the  East  and  the  West,  and  the  chief  seat 
of  heathen,  Jewish,  and  Christian  literature,  with  immense 
libraries,  one  of  which  numbered  400,000  rolls.  There 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures  were  translated  into  the  Greek  by 
seventy  interpreters,  (hence  the  name,  “  the  Septuagint,”) 
two  centuries  before  the  Christian  era.  There  arose 
the  Alexandrian  Greek  dialect,  called  the  Hellenistic, 
which,  with  its  Hebrew  coloring,  became  the  organ  of 
early  Christianity  and  still  lives  on  the  pages  of  the 
New  Testament.  There  Philo  blended  the  Mosaic  reli¬ 
gion  with  the  Platonic  philosophy,  and  dreamed  of  the 
Logos  who  became  flesh  for  our  salvation.  There  St. 
Mark  founded  a  Christian  church,  which  in  the  course  of 
time  became  one  of  the  patriarchal  sees,  outranking 
Jerusalem  and  Antioch,  though  outranked  afterward  by 
Constantinople  and  Rome.  There  flourished  the  first 
theological  seminary,  under  the  name  of  the  Catechetical 
School,  in  which  Clement  and  Origen  expounded  the 
Scriptures  and  taught  the  Christian  religion  as  the  last 
and  best  system  of  philosophy,  as  the  true  gnosis,  in 
opposition  to  the  falsely  so-called  gnosis  of  the  Gnostics 
and  New  Platonists,  who  had  their  headquarters  in  tne 
same  city.  There  arose,  in  the  fourth  century,  the  Arian 
heresy  ;  but  there  also  its  chief  opponent,  Athanasius, 
the  “  father  of  orthodoxy,”  who  alone  against  the  world, 
(AthanasLis  versus  mundum)  in  his  episcopal  seat  and  in 
exile,  in  the  city  and  in  the  desert,  defended  the  eternal 
deity  of  our  Lord  as  the  corner-stone  of  the  Christian 
faith  and  hope. 


28 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


The  founding  of  the  rival  city  of  Constantinople,  the 
violent  theological  controversies  and  schisms,  the  con¬ 
quest  of  Omar,  the  discovery  of  the  sea-passage  to  India, 
the  misrule  of  the  Turks,  are  among  the  chief  causes  of 
the  gradual  decline  of  Alexandria  from  a  splendid  city 
of  half  a  million  to  a  miserable  village  of  five  thousand, 
surrounded  by  swamp  and  desert.  The  new  era  of 
Alexandria  dates  from  the  wise  and  energetic  though 
despotic  Mohammed  Ali,  and  the  construction  of  the 
canal,  in  1819,  which  connected  it  once  more  with  the 
Nile  and  the  rest  of  Egypt,  by  the  forced  labor  of  250,000 
men  and  at  a  cost  of  seven  and  a  half  millions  of  francs. 

Of  old  Alexandria,  heathen  and  Christian,  very  little 
remains.  It  disappeared  like  the  famous  library,  which 
the  semi-barbarous  Kalif  Omar  burnt.  His  plea  for  this 
act  of  vandalism  was  the  absolute  sufficiency  of  the 
Koran,  which  made  every  other  book  either  superfluous 
or  injurious.  The  only  monuments  of  old  times  are  the 
Catacombs,  the  miscalled  column  of  Pompey,  and  the 
Needles  of  Cleopatra.  The  column  of  Pompey  is  named, 
not  from  the  famous  Pompey  who,  after  his  defeat  at 
Pharsalus,  was  murdered  on  the  coast  of  Egypt ;  but 
from  a  Roman  prefect,  who  erected  it  to  the  honor  of 
the  Emperor  Diocletian.  It  stands  on  an  elevation  and 
is  surrounded  by  rubbish  and  filth.  Close  by  is  a  Mo¬ 
hammedan  cemetery  with  innumerable  oven-like  white 
tombs,  and  a  little  farther  off  the  Catacombs. 

The  Needles  of  Cleopatra  on  the  seashore  are  two  obe¬ 
lisks  of  red  granite  dating  from  the  time  of  the  Pharaohs. 
They  have  nothing  to  do  with  that  licentious  queen  who 


ALEXANDRIA. 


29 


conquered  her  Roman  conquerors  and  ended  with  suicide. 
They  were  removed  from  Heliopolis  under  Tiberius. 
One  was  long  ago  presented  by  Mohammed  Ali  to  the 
English  government,  but  it  was  not  thought  worth  the 
cost  of  transportation,  and  lay  in  the  sand  and  mud 
until  in  the  summer  of  1877,  when  it  was  carried  to  Eng¬ 
land  to  adorn  the  new  embankment  of  the  Thames.  The 
other  still  stands  erect.  The  Needles  of  Cleopatra,  how¬ 
ever,  are  far  inferior  to  the  Obelisk  of  Luxor,  which 
since  1834  adorns  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  in  Paris. 

Alexandria  can  easily  be  seen  in  a  day.  The  Frank 
quarter  has  some  fine  buildings  and  is  fast  improving. 
The  native  quarters  are  full  of  filth  and  misery.  Oph¬ 
thalmia  prevails  to  a  fearful  extent  all  over  Egypt,  espe¬ 
cially  among  children,  whose  eyes  are  besieged  with  flies, 
and  the  parents  make  no  attempt  to  drive  them  away.  I 
had  the  first  illustration  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  water- 
carriers — men  with  water-skins  on  their  shoulders  and 
women  carrying  huge  water-jars  gracefully  on  their 
heads.  The  most  interesting  part  is  the  picturesque 
Oriental  life  in  the  streets,  and  the  people  sittiag,  work¬ 
ing,  eating,  smoking,  and  sleeping  on  the  ground.  But 
this  may  be  studied  to  better  advantage  in  Cairo. 

The  journey  from  Alexandria  to  Cairo  takes  about 
five  hours  by  railway  and  is  full  of  surprises.  It  is  the 
first  railway  that  was  built  in  the  East  (1855),  must 
have  struck  the  Arabs  with  amazement.  The  tickets  are 
marked  with  Arabic  letters,  which  an  Irishman  compared 
to  a  hen-scratch.  The  road  passes  through  the  rich 
plains  of  the  Delta,  the  old  land  of  Goshen,  and  on  the 

8* 


CAIRO. 


31 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CAIRO. 

The  Capital  of  Egypt — The  Cosmopolis  of  the  East — 
The  Street  Life — The  Bazaars — The  Citadel — The 
Mosques — The  Old  University  El-Azhar — The  New 
University  of  the  Khedive — The  Library — The  Mu¬ 
seum  of  Boulak — Old  Cairo — Roda — The  Palaces. 

Cairo  (Masr  el-Kahira,  the  Victorious),  the  capital  of 
Egypt  and  of  the  Arab  world,  is  also  a  capital  of  Moham¬ 
medanism  and  the  East,  second  in  importance  only  to 
Constantinople.  It  is  the  counterpart  of  Paris,  London, 
and  New  York,  the  cosmopolitan  cities  of  Christendom 
and  the  West.  It  has  a  thoroughly  Oriental  character, 
though  not  so  exclusively  as  Damascus,  but,  like  Con¬ 
stantinople,  with  a  considerable  infusion  of  European  life 
and  civilization  which  are  fast  making  inroads  upon  the 
conservative  East.  The  great  mass  of  the  400,000  in¬ 
habitants  are  Egyptian  Arabs,  and  followers  of  Islam. 
The  rest  are  Copts  (or  Egyptian  Christians)  ;  .Turks 
(who  are,  of  course,  all  Moslems) ;  Bedawin  (or  Arabs  of 
the  desert) ;  Jews,  Italians,  Greeks,  French,  Germans, 
English,  and  a  few  Americans.  The  last  class  occupy 
’  high  positions  in  the  army,  or  spend  the  winter  there  for 
health  and  pleasure. 

The  greatest  charm  of  Cairo  is  the  street-life.  It  is 
as  amusing,  exciting  and  bewildering  as  the  “Arabian 


32 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Nights”  entertainments,  and  makes  an  indelible  impres¬ 
sion  upon  the  traveller.  It  is  a  moving  panorama  of  all 
nationalities,  creeds,  languages,  and  costumes,  with  a 
strong  preponderance  of  the  Oriental  and  semi-barbarous 
element.  It  is  a  perpetual  carnival,  which  defies  descrip¬ 
tion.  The  boulevards  of  Paris,  London  Bridge,  and  New 
York  Broadway,  are  tame  compared  with  it.  You  may 
enjoy  this  unique  spectacle  quietly  sitting  on  the  veran¬ 
dah  of  Shepheard’s  Ilotel ;  but  still  better  in  the  old 
town,  especially  the  Muskee.  The  old  houses  are  high 
and  narrow,  with  upper  stories  projecting.  The  streets 
are  covered  with  rafters  and  matting,  to  keep  out  the 
glare  of  the  sun,  and  are  lined  with  open  shops  of  every 
variety.  They  are  alive  with  gaudily-dressed  and  half- 
dressed  men  and  veiled  women,  water-carriers,  pedlers 
of  all  kinds  of  wares,  braying  donkeys,  growling  camels, 
barking  dogs,  horses  and  carriages — all  jostling  against 
each  other  in  endless  confusion.  In  Muskee  the  crowd 
is  so  dense  that  it  seems  impossible  to  get  through,  and 
the  noise  so  loud  that  you  cannot  hear  your  own  voice. 
A  German  called  it  a  veritable  Hbllenscandal.  Every 
carriage  and  aristocratic  donkey  is  preceded  by  one  or 
more  fleet  runners  (sais),  in  short  trowsers,  bare  legs, 
and  with  a  long  staff  to  clear  the  way.  The  men  wear 
the  red  fez  or  turbans  of  all  colors.  The  'green  color 
marks  a  descendant  of  the  Prophet  or  a  pilgrim  to  Mecca. 
Mohammed’s  banner  was  green,  and  hence,  to  unfold 
the  green  banner  of  the  Prophet  means  to  declare  a 
religious  war  against  the  infidels.  The  women  are  im¬ 
prisoned  in  long  veils  of  silk  or  muslin,  white  or  black  or 


CAIRO. 


33 


blue,  according  to  rank ;  the  veil  is  divided  about  the 
forehead,  and  fastened  to  a  pin  or  cylinder  of  brass  or 
silver  over  the  nose  so  as  to  leave  the  dark,  restless,  and 
frightened  eyes  free  to  satisfy  the  curiosity.  Many  of  the 
lower  women  carry  naked  babies  on  their  shoulders  or  in 
baskets,  and  the  eyes  of  the  poor  children  are  in  undis¬ 
turbed  possession  of  swarms  of  flies.  Not  many  years  ago 
it  would  have  been  dangerous  for  a  female  to  appear 
unveiled  on  the  street ;  now  you  see  plenty  of  Europeans 
in  their  usual  dress.  The  old  fanaticism  of  Islam  has 
been  hopelessly  undermined  under  the  liberal  regime  of 
the  present  Khedive. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  the  bazaars,  in  which 
the  ladies  are  specially  interested.  There  are  special 
bazaars  for  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  for  silks,  for  car¬ 
pets,  for  slippers,  for  pipes  and  tobacco,  for  antiquities 
mostly  of  modern  manufacture,  for  fez  caps,  for  hardware 
and  all  sorts  of  ware.  Oriental  and  Occidental,  genuine 
and  spurious.  They  are  mostly  in  narrow  lanes,  half- 
lighted  and  aglow  with  gorgeous  colors.  The  merchant 
sits  cross-legged,  smoking  his  long  pipe,  in  the  midst  of 
his  goods,  in  all  his  Oriental  dignity.  I  well  remember 
a  patriarchal-looking  Jew  who  calls  himself  “Far-away- 
Moses,”  who  treated  us  to  a  cup  of  Persian  tea  and  per¬ 
suaded  us  to  buy  silks,  covers  and  slippers  for  about  half 
the  “fixed”  prices  he  at  first  asked.  I  met  him  after¬ 
wards  in  Constantinople  in  the  same  business. 

My  first  excursion  was  to  the  Citadel.  It  affords  a 
commanding  view  of  the  city,  the  Valley  of  the  Nile,  the 
distant  Pyramids,  the  sands  and  hills  of  the  desert  beyond. 


34 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


It  is  one  of  the  finest  pictures  in  the  world  and  can  never 
be  forgotten.  On  this  spot  Mohammed  Ali,  by  a  treach¬ 
erous  massacre,  destroyed  the  power  of  the  Mamelukes 
(i8ii),  whose  chiefs  he  had  invited  to  a  military  parade. 
One  only  escaped  death  by  a  bold  leap  on  horseback 
over  the  wall. 

Within  the  limits  of  the  Citadel  is  the  beautiful  ala¬ 
baster  Mosque  of  Mohammed  Ali,  with  the  tomb  of  this 
great  but  unscrupulous  tyrant,  who  died  in  insanity 
(1849).  It  was  completed  in  1857.  It  is  certainly  one 
of  the  noblest  structures  of  that  kind,  and,  being  new,  it 
is  exceptionally  clean  and  elegant.  The  Mosque  of  Sultan 
Hassan,  at  the  foot  of  the  Citadel,  completed  in  1359,  is 
called  “the  splendid  but  it  is  neglected  and  in  a  state  of 
decay,  like  many  other  temples  of  Islam.  Opposite  to  it 
is  the  unfinished  mosque  of  the  mother  of  the  Khedive. 

The  Moslem  architecture  grew  out  of  the  round  form 
of  the  tent,  the  habitation  of  the  Bedawin,  and  combines 
with  it  the  cupola  of  the  Byzantine  churches.  The 
mosques  are  covered  with  carpets  or  rugs,  for  kneeling 
and  prostration,  and  a  pulpit  or  reading-desk ;  but  they 
have  no  seats,  no  benche.s,  no  altar,  no  pictures,  and  be¬ 
tray  the  iconoclastic  character  of  Mohammedan  worship. 

One  of  the  most  instructive  sights  to  me  was  the  old 
Moslem  University,  founded  in  975,  in  the  Mosque  El- 
Azhar.  It  is  the  largest  in  the  world  and  numbers  over 
10,000  pupils  and  320  professors,  from  all  Mohammedan 
nations.  Many,  however,  attend  it  to  escape  conscription 
to  the  army,  which  in  Egypt  and  Turkey  is  feared  more 
than  death.  It  is  the  hot-bed  of  Mohammedan  fanaticism. 


CAIRO. 


35 


The  Koran  is  the  only  text-book  for  grammar,  logic,  law, 
and  philosophy,  as  well  as  theology.  The  university  has 
the  appearance  of  a  huge  Sunday-school.  The  students 
sit  cross-legged  on  the  floor,  in  small  groups,  reading  or 
listening  to  the  instruction  of  the  teacher.  There  they 
also  eat,  and  sleep  on  a  blanket  or  straw  mat.  They 
support  themselves,  or  are  supported  by  the  alms  of  the 
faithful.  The  professors  receive  no  salary,  and  are  sup¬ 
ported  by  private  instruction,  copying  books,  and  presents 
from  rich  scholars.  There  are  no  benches,  no  chairs,  no 
beds,  no  comforts  of  any  kind.  The  simplicity  and  self- 
denial  of  this  student-life  is  something  marvellous.  Our 
theological  students  could  not  stand  it  a  week.  Attached 
to  the  Mosque  is  a  chapel  for  300  blind  scholars.  I 
visited  the  University  twice,  in  company  with  Dr.  Lansing, 
of  Cairo,  and  Dr.  Hogg,  of  Osiout,  who  familiarly  con¬ 
versed  in  Arabic  ;  but  some  scholars  looked  rather  sus¬ 
piciously  at  us.  We  had  first  to  get  permission  from  the 
headquarters  of  the  police,  and  to  wait  nearly  an  hour 
till  the  formalities  were  gone  through.  The  head  of 
police,  formerly  a  Circassian  slave,  sat  there  in  his  digni¬ 
ty  and  politely  treated  us  to  a  little  cup  of  dark  coffee 
and  a  cigarette,  the  usual  manifestation  of  Oriental  hos¬ 
pitality.  He  wrote  his  orders  to  the  many  servants  who 
passed  in  and  out,  not  on  the  table  or  the  divan,  but  on 
his  knee.  As  long  as  El-Azhar  is  thronged  with  students, 

>  Islam  will  be  a  great  power  in  Africa  and  Asia. 

In  striking  contrast  to  this  Old  University  is  the  New 
University,  founded  by  the  Khedive  and  superintended 
by  Mr.  Dor,  the  minister  of  public  instruction,  a  Swiss 


36 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


by  birth.  I  had  a  letter  of  introduction  to  him  from  my 
friend  Dr.  Godet  in  Neuchatel,  and  I  found  him  a  very 
intelligent  and  courteous  gentleman,  but  in  delicate 
health.  He  gave  me  much  information  about  the  schools 
in  Egypt,  and  complained  of  the  want  of  funds.  The 
New  University  represents  the  modern  system  of  secular 
education,  without  religion,  and  affords  instruction  in  all 
modern  languages ;  while  in  the  Old  University  the 
Koran  and  the  Arabic  are  the  exclusive  object  and  organ 
of  teaching.  It  numbers,  however,  only  300  pupils,  and 
is  looked  upon  with  suspicion  by  the  genuine  Moslems. 
Time  will  show  whether  the  new  civilization  is  able  to 
conquer  the  old  fanaticism. 

Near  the  New  University  is  the  library  of  the  Khedive, 
founded  in  1870.  It  numbers  already  over  25,000  vol¬ 
umes,  mostly  Arabic,  Turkish,  and  French  works.  It  is 
especially  rich  in  old  copies  of  the  Koran  {inusaJiif),  col¬ 
lected  from  the  various  mosques  of  Cairo.  They  are  of 
large  size,  written  with  the  greatest  skill  and  care,  well 
bound,  and  present  the  finest  specimens  of  Arab  calli¬ 
graphy,  equal  to  the  best  mediaeval  manuscripts  of  the 
Bible.  The  student  of  the  Koran  and  its  commentators 
will  scarcely  find  a  more  favorable  opportunity  to  prose¬ 
cute  his  work  than  here.  The  obliging  librarian,  Dr. 
Sjjitta,  is  an  excellent  Arabic  scholar,  a  pupil  of  Profes¬ 
sor  Fleischer,  of  Leipsic,  and  a  son  of  the  sweet  German 
singer,  the  author  of  “  Psaltery  and  Harp.”  A  brother 
of  his  is  a  theologian  and  superintends  the  Tholuck 
stipend  at  Halle. 

No  one  interested  in  Egyptian  history  and  antiquities 


CAIRO. 


37 


will  fail  to  visit  the  museum  at  Boiilak,  a  suburb  and 
harbor  of  Cairo,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Nile.  Although 
of  recent  origin,  it  has  already,  by  the  indefatigable  zeal 
of  its  founder  and  superintendent,  Mariette- Bey, become 
one  of  the  richest  collections  of  Egyptian  antiquities,  and 
can  favorably  compare  with  those  of  Turin,  Berlin,  the 
Louvre,  and  the  British  Museum.  The  building  is  too 
small,  and  a  larger  one  is  in  course  of  preparation,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Nile.  The  original  locality  of  all 
the  articles  is  known.  A  French  catalogue,  prepared  by 
Mariette-Bey,  gives  a  full  description.  Badeker  also,  in 
the  first  part  of  his  yRgypten  (1877),  dwells  on  it  at  length 
(pp.  313—324).  Among  the  most  interesting  curiosities 
is  the  wooden  statue  of  a  civil  officer,  of  striking  indi¬ 
viduality,  which  contrasts  favorably  with  the  petrified 
stiffness  of  Egyptian  art.  Biblical  scholars  will  be  inter¬ 
ested  in  a  statue  of  Rameses  II.  (the  Pharaoh  of  Israel’s 
oppression),  and  the  head  of  his  son,  Menephthah  (the 
Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus). 

We  can  barely  mention  other  remarkable  spots  in  the 
neighborhood  which  will  repay  a  visit.  Old  Cairo  is  the 
Babylon  of  the  Romans,  and  according  to  the  local 
Coptic  tradition  the  Babylon  from  which  St.  Peter  dated 
his  first  Epistle,  while  most  commentators  decide  in  fa¬ 
vor  of  Babylon  in  Asia  or  possibly  of  the  mystic  Baby¬ 
lon,  ancient  Rome.  In  the  crypt  of  the  old  Coptic 
church  Abu  Serge,  the  Virgin  Mary  with  the  Holy  child, 
is  said  to  have  spent  a  month.  Close  by  is  the  island 
Roda  with  a  celebrated  Nilometre.  Among  the  many 
palaces,  that  of  Gezire  with  a  fine  park  and  menagerie  is 

Bible  LaQds.  ^ 


38 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


the  most  beautiful.  It  was  finished  by  a  German  archi¬ 
tect  in  1868,  and  accommodated  the  Empress  Eugenie,  the 
Emperor  of  Austria,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales.  I  saw 
nothing  in  it  which  could  offend  refined  taste.  The  wild 
aidmals,  especially  the  lions,  tigers,  and  hyenas,  show  in 
this  their  native  climate  much  more  vitality  and  vigor 
than  in  European  menageries.  The  Kiosk,  in  the  middle 
of  the  garden,  is  considered  the  finest  of  the  modern 
Arab  buildings  in  Egypt,  and  is  ornamented  in  the  style 
of  the  Alhambra. 


THE  PYRAMIDS. 


39 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  PYRAMIDS. 

The  Pyramids  and  Sphinxes  fit  Symbols  of  Egypt — 
Number  and  Design  of  the  Pyramids  —  Royal 
Sepulchres  —  Egyptian  Belief  in  Immortality 
and  Resurrection  —  The  Pyramids  of  Gheezeh  — 
The  Great  Pyramid — Ascent  of  the  Pyramid — A 
Unique  Panorama — The  King’s  and  the  Queen’s 
Chamber — The  Great  Sphinx — The  Bedawin 
Guides  —  Piazzi  Smyth’s  Theory  —  A  Miracle  in 
Stone — Allusions  in  the  Bible— General  Charac¬ 
ter  of  the  Pyramids  and  Egyptian  Monuments — 
Despotism  and  Slavery — The  Present  Khedive — 
The  Future  of  Egypt. 

A  VISIT  to  the  pyramids — “  the  memorials  of  the 
world’s  youth  ” — is  an  event  in  a  man’s  life.  It  is  worth 
a  visit  to  Egypt.  The  pyramids  and  the  sphinxes  are 
the  fittest  symbols,  the  best  welcome,  and  the  best  fare¬ 
well  to  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs,  who  themselves  rose 
like  pyramids,  in  solitary  grandeur,  far  above  the  desert 
plain  of  slavery  around  them.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact, 
that  the  grandest  architectural  achievements  of  men  are 
usually  found  in  level  countries — as  the  banks  of  the 
Nile,  the  Euphrates,  the  Ganges,  Lombardy,  the  Nether¬ 
lands — where  they  can  display  their  vastness  and  maj¬ 
esty  without  fear  of  rivalry  from  the  mightier  works  of 
God.  A  pyramid  or  a  cathedral  in  the  Highlands  of 


40 


BIBLE  LAXDS. 


Berne,  in  Zermatt,  or  in  Chamouni,  would  be  overpeered 
and  overshadowed  by  the  Jungfrau,  the  Matterhorn,  or 
Mont  Blanc. 

There  were  once  more  than  seventy  pyramids,  repre¬ 
senting  as  many  kings,  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  on  the 
borders  of  the  desert.*  Some  have  disappeared  entirely, 
the  others  are  in  a  more  or  less  ruined  condition.  The 
word  is  probably  derived  from  the  Egyptian  “  Pi-Rama,” 
the  mountain.  Pyramids  are  mountains  of  stone,  built 
for  the  same  purpose  as  the  rock-tombs,  to  hide  a  royal 
mummy  in  perfect  security.  As  soon  as  a  king  ascended 
the  throne,  he  began  to  build  his  monument  and  his 
sepulchre.  He  wished  to  reign  even  after  his  death. 
The  size  of  the  pyramid  corresponded  to  the  length  of 
the  reign. f  Each  year  added  a  new  pile  of  limestone ; 
higher  and  higher  rose  the  structure  the  longer  the  mon¬ 
arch  lived,  until  the  top  was  reached,  and  the  four  trian¬ 
gles  of  the  royal  tomb  were  covered  with  polished  granite. 
Then  the  body  of  the  dead  monarch,  carefully  embalmed, 
was  deposited  in  the  stone  sarcophagus  previously  pre- 

*  Brugsch-Bey  (Geschichte  ^gyplens  unter  den  Pharaotien,  7iach  den 
Denk7?ialern,  Leipzig,  1877,  p.  73)  says  ;  “  Jl/ehr  ah  siebe7izig  der  Py7-a7ni- 
de7i  erhob£7i  ei7ist  sick  aii  deni  Rand  der  IViiste,  jede  einen  IConig  kundend, 
der  Grab  iind  Denkmal  sick  gleichzeitig  schnfP  Other  writers  count  forty- 
five,  or  sixty-five,  or  as  many  as  one  hundred  and  thirty,  including  all  sorts 
of  pyramidal  structures,  ancient  and  modern.  Lepsius,  the  leader  of  the 
Prussian  expedition,  1842-44,  discovered  no  less  than  thirty  pyramids 
which  had  escaped  the  attention  of  former  travellers.  Piazzi  Smyth 
(“Our  Inheritance  in  the  Great  Pyramids,”  1874,  p.  3)  reduces  the  num¬ 
ber  of  pyramids  to  thirtv-eight,  and  gives  a  list  of  them,  p.  412,  sq. 

t  Lepsius  and  Brugsch  think  that  additions  could  be  made  to  the 
upright  sides  of  the  stages  at  any  time  before  the  triangular  spaces  were 
filled  in.  But  Wilkinson  dissents  from  this  view.  See  Rawlinson’s 
“  Herodotus,”  Vol.  IL,  p.  173,  note  (Appleton’s  ed.). 


THE  PYRAMIDS. 


41 


pared  in  the  interior  of  the  building,  and  the  access  was 
closed.  The  pyramids  were  thus  the  massive  and  impen¬ 
etrable  casings  of  a  royal  mummy,  without  windows, 
without  doors  and  external  opening,  surrounded  by  a 
vast  necropolis  of  the  priests,  relations,  and  high  officers 
of  the  royal  builders. 

To  account  for  this  custom  we  must  remember  the 
strong  belief  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  in  the  immortality 
and  migration  of  the  soul  and  its  ultimate  return  to  the 
body.  For  this  reason  the  mummy  must  be  preserved 
with  religious  care.  The  scarabasus — the  shining  black 
beetle  which  lays  its  eggs  in  small  balls  of  dirt  on  the 
Nile,  rolls  them  along  with  its  hind  feet  to  the  borders 
of  the  desert  and  deposits  them  in  holes  for  burial  and 
resurrection — was  worshipped  as  an  emblem  of  fertility 
and  immortality;  it  was  modelled  in  precious  materials 
with  spread  wings,  worn  in  rings,  carried  as  a  charm, 
used  as  a  seal,  and  buried  with  the  mummy.  Scarabaei, 
genuine  and  spurious,  are  among  the  most  frequent  an¬ 
tiques  offered  for  sale.  According  to  Herodotus  (Book 
II.,  chap.  124),  the  Egyptians  were  the  first  nation  who 
held  the  opinion  that  the  soul  of  man  is  immortal,  and 
that  when  the  body  dies,  it  enters  into  the  form  of  an 
animal  which  is  born  at  the  moment,  thence  repassing  on 
from  one  animal  into  another,  until  it  has  circled  through 
all  the  creatures  which  tenant  the  earth,  the  water,  and 
the  air,  after  which  it  enters  again  into  a  human  frame 
and  is  born  anew.  The  whole  period  of  the  transmigra¬ 
tion  is,  they  say  three  thousand  years.  He  also  relates 
the  singular  custom  that  at  the  social  banquets  of  the 


42 


BIBLE  LANES. 


rich  a  wooden  skeleton  in  a  coffin  was  carried  round  and 
shown  to  the  guests  with  the  words,  “  Look  on  this,  and 
drink  and  be  merry ;  for  when  thou  art  dead,  such  shalt 
thou  be.”  The  constant  thought  of  death,  retribution, 
and  the  long  migration  of  the  lonely  soul  through  tracts 
unknown,  imparted  to  them  an  air  of  melancholy  sad¬ 
ness  which  was,  however,  relieved  by  the  hope  of  resur¬ 
rection  as  symbolized  in  the  myth  of  their  chief  divinity, 
Osiris.  The  famous  “Book  of  the  Dead,”  or  “Funeral 
Ritual,”  of  which  several  copies  were  found  in  the  tombs, 
is  a  guide  or  a  sort  of  Pilgrim’s  Progress  to  the  other 
world,  with  hymns,  prayers,  rubrics,  and  directions.*  It 
gives  a  mystical  account  of  the  adventures  of  the  soul 
after  death,  its  passage  to  Hades,  and  its  judgment  by 
Osiris.  The  great  god  is  seated  on  his  throne,  his  forty- 
two  assessors  seated  in  two  rows  inquire  into  the  forty- 
two  sins.  Thoth  weighs  the  heart  in  the  balance  ;  if 
found  too  light,  the  soul  is  doomed  to  the  torments  of 
hell,  or  to  migrations  in  the  body  of  a  pig  or  other  ani¬ 
mal  ;  if  the  heart  is  found  sufficiently  heavy,  the  soul 
ascends  to  the  fields  of  bliss  among  the  gods,  while  the 
well-preserved  mummy  waits  for  its  resurrection  and  re¬ 
union  with  the  immortal  spirit.  The  monuments  fre¬ 
quently  represent  pictures  of  this  judgment  scene,  inclu¬ 
ding  the  pig  into  which  the  wicked  soul  is  sent.  Pytha- 

*  Best  editions  by  Lepsius,  Das  Todtenbtich  der  u^gypter,  Leipzig,  1842 
(from  a  Turin  papyrus),  and  ALlteste  Texte  des  altagyptischen  Todtenbtichs, 
Berlin,  1867;  by  De  Rouge,  Ritael futierairi,  Paris,  1861-5;  and  by  Birch 
in  the  fifth  volume  of  Bunsen’s  great  work  on  Egypt,  London,  1867.  See 
also  Bunsen’s  Egypt,  Vol.  V.,  pp.  123,  sqq.,  and  Vigouroux  La  Bible  ct 
Ics  dccouvertes  inodernes  cn  Egypt  et  cn  Assyrie,  Paris,  1877,  vol.  2,  pp. 
48 1-435- 


THE  PYRAMIDS. 


43 


goras  borrowed  his  notion  of  the  metempsychosis,  or 
metensomatosis,  from  the  Egyptians. 

The  largest  pyramids  are  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Memphis,  on  the  border  of  the  Lybian  desert,  at  Sakkara, 
Aboosir,  Dashoor,  and  Gheezeh.  They  were  erected  by 
the  Pharaohs  of  the  Memphitic  dynasties.  The  Pharaohs 
of  the  Theban  dynasties  preferred  the  rock-tombs  which 
abound  in  Upper  Egypt,  and  are  like  subterranean  palaces. 
The  three  pyramids  of  Gheezeh*  are  best  preserved  and 
the  most  interesting  of  all.  They  were  built  by  Chufu 
(Sofo),  Chafra,  and  Menkera,  all  of  the  fourth  dynasty  of 
Memphis  (b.  c.  3091  to  3020).  They  lie  ten  miles  west 
of  Cairo,  and  can  now  be  easily  reached  by  carriage  in 
two  hours,  but  the  Bedawin  keep  the  end  of  the  road  in 
a  wretched  condition  that  they  may  have  a  chance  to 
earn  a  few  shillings  by  dragging  the  carriage  through 
the  sand,  and  bearing  feeble  or  timid  passengers  on  their 
shoulders. 

Among  these  three  pyramids  of  Gheezeh,  the  Pyra¬ 
mid  of  Cheops  or  the  “  Great  Pyramid,”  is  by  far  the 
most  important,  and  worth  all  the  rest.  It  is  pyra¬ 
mid,  as  the  mysterious  sphinx  at  its  base  is  Sphinx. 
It  is  probably  the  oldest  and  certainly  the  largest  build¬ 
ing  in  the  world,  though  but  a  pigmy  of  yesterday  as 
compared  with  God’s  own  pyramids — the  Alps.  It  was 
one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  Old  World,  and  it  is  a 
wonder  and  a  puzzle  to-day.  Well  might  Napoleon  fire 
his  soldiers  by  pointing  them  to  that  hoary  monarch  of 

*  The  word  is  differently^  spelled,  Gheezeh,  Geezeh,  Ghiseh,  Gize, 
leezeh,  Jizeh,  Djiza,  Dsjise,  Dschiseh,  etc. 


44 


BIBLE  LANDS, 


buildings  from  which  “forty  centuries  looked  down  upon 
them.”  It  was  erected  by  Chufu  (or  Cheops,  as  Hero¬ 
dotus  call  him),  more  than  two  thousand,  if  not  three 
thousand,  years  before  Christ.*  It  was  old  when  Rome 
was  built,  when  Homer  sang,  when  David  reigned,  when 
Moses  led  the  children  of  Israel  from  the  land  of  bond¬ 
age,  yea,  when  Abraham  visited  Pharaoh.  Its  base  covers 
thirteen  acres,  or  an  area  of  61,835  (formerly  65,437) 
square  yards,  and  it  rises  to  a  perpendicular  height  of 
460  (formerly  479)  feet,  the  loftiest  human  structure 
in  the  world.  It  is  computed  to  have  contained  6,848,000 
tons  of  solid  masonry.  And  yet  w'e  see  it  only  in  its 
mutilated  state.  The  vandalism  of  the  Greeks,  Romans, 
and  Saracens  has  robbed  it  of  the  polished  red  granite 
casing,  to  enrich  their  palaces  and  mosques.  It  was 
built  in  steps  or  successive  stages  by  means  of  machines 
formed  of  short  wooden  planks.  The  upper  portion  was 
finished  first,  the  lowest  last.  Herodotus  (Book  II.,  chs. 
124,  125)  was  informed  that  100,000  workmen,  changing 
every  three  months  (360,000  according  to  Diodorus), 
were  constantly  employed  for  ten  years  in  making  the 

*  Chufu  reigned,  according  to  Lepsius,  Ebers,  and  others,  B.  c.  3091 
to  3076.  But  the  Egyptologists  differ  very  widely  in  their  chronology. 
Mariette  puts  the  building  of  the  Great  Pyramid  back  to  B.  C.  4235, 
Brugsch  to  B.  C.  3733  ;  while  Piazzi  Smyth  puts  it  down  to  the  age  of 
Abraham  and  Melchisedek,  B.  C.  2170.  Chufu  was  the  second  Pharaoh 
of  the  fourth  dynasty,  and  reigned  for  some  time  together  with  his  brother 
Nou  Chufu,  and  this  accounts  for  the  50  years  assigned  to  his  reign  by 
Herodotus  (Book  II.,  ch.  127).  He  w’as  followed  by  Chafra  (the  Chephren 
of  the  Greeks),  who  built  the  second  pyramid  of  Gheezeh  (b.  C.  3067  to 
3043),  and  by  Menkera  (the  Mykerinos  of  the  Greeks),  who  built  the  third 
and  smallest  (b.  c.  3043  to  3020).  According  to  Herodotus,  Cheops  and 
Chephren  were  very  despotic  and  unpopular,  Mykerinos  humane  and  just. 


ASCENT  OF  A  PYRAMID. 


ft  .  1 

'  .  -.W  ' 


>■# 


4:J 


tl 


THE  PYRAMIDS. 


45 


causeway  for  the  conveyance  of  the  stones,  and  twenty 
years  more  in  building  the  Great  Pyramid  itself,  at  a 
cost  of  1, 600  talents  of  silver  (about  ^1,700,000,  or  over 
seven  millions  of  German  marks). 

VVe  must  not  forget  the  dark  side  of  the  picture. 
The  pyramids,  like  the  Tower  of  Babel,  the  Colosseum  of 
Rome,  and  similar  monuments  of  pride  and  folly,  tell  in 
silent  eloquence  a  tale  of  tears  and  sorrow  of  a  whole 
people  which  groaned  under  the  yoke  of  tyrants,  and 
cursed  their  memory.  Even  centuries  after  the  death  of 
the  builders,  when  Herodotus  visited  the  pyramids,  the 
Egyptians  remembered  the  sufferings  and  curses  of  their 
forefathers,  and  refused  to  mention  the  names  of  the 
kings  who  built  the  two  largest  pyramids  (Chufu  and 
Chafra).  He  was  told  that  their  bodies  which  were  to 
be  entombed  there,  were  buried  in  unknown  places  from 
fear  that  they  might  be  stolen  and  torn  to  pieces.  And 
what  did  the  300,000  or  more  laborers  get  for  their  toil } 
Radish,  onion,  garlic,  and  nameless  obscurity.  Eor  an  in¬ 
scription  on  the  outside  mentioned  the  quantity  of  these 
vegetables  spent  upon  the  laborers,  and  the  amount  of 
money  it  cost. 

We  climb  over  the  rugged  blocks  to  the  top  of  the 
Great  Pyramid,  which  is  thirty  feet  square,  and  with  the 
help  of  the  Arabs  we  reach  it  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 
Here  we  enjoy  a  panorama  without  a  parallel  in  the 
world.  The  green  garden  of  the  Nile  and  the  yellow 
desert,  teeming  life  and  boundless  death  bordering  on 
each  other  in  startling  contrast !  Towards  the  east  we 
see  the  fertile  fields,  the  stately  palms,  the  majestic 


46 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


river  with  dahabeahs  and  steamers  bound  for  Nubia,  the 
city  of  Cairo  with  its  citadel,  mosques  and  minarets,  and 
beyond  it  the  Mokattam  hills ;  towards  the  west  an 
ocean  of  drifting  sand  and  barren  rock  ;  towards  the 
south  the  mysterious  Sphinx,  the  neighboring  pyramids 
of  Chafra  and  Menkera,  and  the  more  distant  pyramids 
of  Aboosir,  Sakkara,  and  Dashoor.  The  impression  is 
spiritualized  by  the  historical  associations  which  invol¬ 
untarily  pass  before  the  mind’s  eye — Abraham,  Joseph, 
the  patriarchal  family,  Moses,  the  Exodus ;  the  Egypt 
of  the  Pharaohs,  of  Cambyses  and  the  Persians,  of  Alex¬ 
ander  the  Great  and  the  Ptolemies,  of  the  Romans  and 
the  Byzantine  Emperors,  of  the  Mohammedans  and  Sara¬ 
cens,  of  the  Turks,  of  the  Mamelukes,  of  Napoleon,  of 
Mohammed  Ali,  and  of  the  present  Khedive.  Never 
did  I  feel  so  deeply  the  spell  of  antiquity.  “  All  things 
fear  time,  but  time  fears  the  pyramids,” 

Having  ascended  to  the  top,  we  shall  not  shun  the 
severer  task  of  examining  the  interior,  where  we  must 
literally  stoop  to  conquer.  With  guides  and  torches  we 
crawl  through  the  dark,  narrow,  and  slippery  passages, 
first  descending,  then  ascending  to  the  Grand  Gallery, 
and  into  the  heart  of  the  structure,  the  King’s  Chamber. 
This  chamber  is  thirty-four  feet  long,  seventeen  broad, 
and  nineteen  high,  and  contains  the  only  furniture  in  the 
building,  an  open  and  empty  sarcophagus  of  polished 
granite,  which  was  intended  to  be  the  resting-place  of 
Cheops,  but  probably  never  contained  his  mummy.  The 
coffin  has  no  trace  of  an  inscription,  but  its  size  and  po¬ 
sition  have  given  rise  to  far-reaching  speculations,  which 


THE  PYRAMIDS. 


47 


we  shall  notice  below.  Returning  through  the  Grand 
Gallery,  we  pass  through  a  horizontal  passage  into  the 
Queen’s  Chamber,  so  called,  which  is  empty.  Probably 
the  Great  Pyramid  was  the  work  of  two  kings,  as  Colonel 
Vyse  discovered  the  names  of  two  Chufu  or  Shufu  (Che¬ 
ops  and  his  brother)  among  the  quarry  marks  on  the 
blocks ;  and  that  they  reigned  together,  is  shown  by  the 
number  of  years  ascribed  to  their  reigns.  This  circum¬ 
stance  accounts  for  two  chambers  in  this  pyramid.  The 
impression  i^roduced  in  these  dark  passages  is  altogether 
different  from  the  one  on  the  top  ;  we  are  overwhelmed 
with  the  mystery  of  death  and  eternity.  Perspiring  and 
covered  with  dust,  we  wind  our  way  back,  and  are  glad 
to  come  out  of  this  suffocating  labyrinth  of  death  into  the 
pure  air  and  the  golden  light  of  the  sun. 

We  next  visit  the  colossal  Sphinx  who  keeps  sleep¬ 
less  watch  over  the  vast  necropolis.  He  is  cut  out  of  the 
solid  rock,  about  six  hundred  steps  from  the  second  pyra¬ 
mid,  and  raises  his  mutilated  human  head  and  lion  paws 
out  of  the  sand  of  the  desert  in  which  he  was  buried  for 
ages.  The  sphinxes,  like  all  the  Egyptian  gods,  are  a 
monstrous  union  of  man  and  beast.  They  have  always 
the  body  of  a  lion,  and  either  the  head  of  a  man  (never 
of  a  woman)  or  of  a  ram,  as  those  which  lead  to  the  tem¬ 
ple  of  Karnak.  The  former  are  called  Andros-Sphinxes, 
the  latter  Krios-Sphinxes.  The  Assyrians  provided  their 
sphinxes  with  wings,  as  an  emblem  of  swiftness  and  the 
power  of  elevation.  The  sphinxes  are  usually  sup¬ 
posed  to  represent  sovereign  royalty — intellect  combined 
with  physical  strength  ;  but  according  to  an  inscription 


48 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


at  Eclfu,  they  originally  symbolized  the  conflict  of  the 
god  Horns  (the  son  of  Osiris  and  Isis)  with  the  evil  spirit 
Typhon,  when,  in  order  to  avenge  the  death  of  Osiris,  he 
assumed  the  shape  of  a  lion  with  a  human  head,  and  slew 
the  enemy.  Of  all  sphinxes,  the  one  at  Gheezeh  is  the 
most  imposing.  He  is  supposed  by  modern  Egyptolo¬ 
gists  to  be  as  old  or  even  older  than  the  pyramids.  And 
yet  Herodotus  makes  no  mention  of  him.  The  ruins  of 
a  temple  of  the  Sphinx  were  discovered  a  few  steps  from 
the  statue  by  Mariette  in  1853.  The  Sphinx  is  merely  a 
ruin  of  what  he  was  when  sacrifices  were  offered  on  the 
altar  between  his  lion  paws  of  fifty  feet  in  length.  And 
yet  he  makes  an  overpowering  impression  as,  with  dreamy 
eyes,  he  stares  in  majestic  repose  over  the  valley  of  the 
Nile  and  the  vast  wilderness  towards  the  rising  sun. 
The  Arabs  call  him  “  Abu'l  /lolL  the  Father  of  Terror  or 
Immensity.  He  reminds  one  of  the  impenetrable  mys¬ 
teries  of  eternity.  “  We  shall  die,  and  Islam  shall  wither 
away,  and  still  that  sleepless  rock  will  be  watching  and 
watching  the  works  of  a  new,  busy  race  with  those  same 
sad,  earnest  eyes  and  the  same  tranquil  mien  everlast¬ 
ingly.  You  dare  not  mock  at  the  Sphinx.” 

The  visit  of  these  monuments  is  made  easy,  vexing, 
and  funny,  by  an  irrepressible  rabble  of  semi-savage  Bed- 
awin  who  live  in  miserable  shanties  close  by,  and  claim  a 
sort  of  ownership  over  the  pyramids  and  the  Sphinx,  and 
swarm  about  the  traveller  like  ravenous  wolves  ;  but  they 
are  only  hungry  for  his  money,  not  for  his  flesh.  In 
ascending  the  Great  Pyramid,  two  of  these  swarthy  Arabs 
pull  you  in  front  by  the  hand,  one  or  two  push  from  be- 


THE  PYRAMIDS. 


49 


hind,  and  encourage  you  with  broken  fragments  of  half  a 
dozen  languages  :  “  I  good  guide,  you  good  baksheesh — 
Patienza  signore — Allez  doucement — Chi  va  piano  va 
sano  e  va  lontano  (the  other  half,  ‘  chi  va  forte  va  alia 
morte,’  is  omitted) — All  serene — Go  ahead — Half  way 
up — well  done — I  liky  you — Good  man — Dear  doctor — 
baksheesh.”  We  would  willingly  give  them  a  double 
portion  of  the  everlasting  baksheesh,  (although  we  have 
paid  it  already  to  the  sheikh,)  if  they  only  would  leave  us 
for  a  few  minutes  on  the  top  to  enjoy  the  panorama  of 
life  and  death,  and  to  muse  over  the  boundless  past.  But 
we  cannot  get  rid  of  them  ;  neither  sticks  nor  hard  words 
make  any  impression.  One  offers  you  a  drink  of  water ; 
another  a  chisel  to  engrave  your  name  ;  a  third  has  an¬ 
tiques  for  sale  as  old  as  Memphis  or  as  new  as  Birming¬ 
ham  :  still  another  is  anxious  to  run  down  and  to  run  up 
the  polished  casing  of  the  pyramid  of  Chafra  in  ten  min¬ 
utes  like  a  monkey,  and  he  does  it  for  a  franc  from  each 
traveller.  By-and-by  some  enterprising  Yankee  will  build 
an  elevator  or  lift  (as  they  say  in  England)  to  the  top  of 
the  pyramid,  and  charge  a  dollar  a  head.  In  the  mean¬ 
time  we  must  put  up  with  these  human  machines.  •  There 
is  no  use  to  get  out  of  humor,  the  best  way  is  to  bear  the 
annoyance  good-naturedly,  and  to  play  with  these  hungry 
children  of  the  desert,  who  are  a  necessity  and  an  amuse¬ 
ment  as  well  as  a  nuisance.  Some  are  very  handsome 
and  intelligent-looking  fellows,  and  might  be  made  useful 
men  by  proper  education. 

I  We-  must  not  leave  the  Great  Pyramid  without  allu- 
jjding  to  some  curious  recent  speculations  about  its  real 

6 


Bible  Lands. 


50 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


design  and  value.  Every  visitor  must  be  impressed  with 
its  venerable  age,  colossal  size,  and  unique  surroundings. 
But  some  regard  it  after  all  as  a  very  plain,  unproductive, 
and  useless  building,  in  which  nothing  can  be  stored  up 
exxepting  a  corpse.*  In  the  opinion  of  others  it  is  a  very 
miracle  in  stone,  a  petrifaction  of  divine  wisdom,  a  pre¬ 
historic  revelation  of  the  mysteries  of  science,  and  a 
prophecy  of  the  first  and  second  coming  of  Christ.f  This 
theory  was  prepared  in  part  by  the  measurements  of 
Col.  Howard  Vyse  (1837),  the  discoveries  and  conjec¬ 
tures  of  John  Taylor  of  London  (1859  1864),  and 

carried  out  with  a  great  waste  of  learning  and  ingenuity 
by  Piazzi  Smyth,  the  Astronomer  Royal  for  Scotland 
(1874).  Smyth  spent  with  his  wife  four  months  at  the 
Great  Pyramid,  and  carefully  examined  its  mechanical 
features  and  mathematical  proportions  with  a  variety 
of  scientific  instruments.  He  finds  the  proper  solution 
of  the  riddle  of  this  pyramid,  not  in  the  hieroglyphic  sci¬ 
ence  of  the  Egyptologers,  but  in  the  mathematical  and 
physical  science  of  our  day.  Its  message  is  expressed, 
not  in  any  written  or  spoken  language,  but  in  scientific 
facts  and  features  now  interpreted  by  science.  Accord¬ 
ingly  the  pyramid  is  a  prophetic  parable  in  stone,  con¬ 
structed  on  principles  of  science,  to  convey  a  new  proof 
to  men  in  the  present  age  of  the  existence  of  a  personal 
God,  his  supernatural  interference  in  patriarchal  times, 

*■  Barham  Zincke,  “  Egypt  of  the  Pharaohs  and  of  the  Khedive  ” 
(London,  1873),  P-  61. 

t  Piazzi  Smyth,  in  his  elaborate  books,  “Life  and  Work  at  the  Great 
Pyramid  in  1865  ”  (3  vols.,  Edinburgh),  and  “  Our  Inheritance  in  the  Great 
Pyramid”  (London,  1874,  1  voL,  526  pp.,  with  17  explanatory  plates). 


THE  PYRAMIDS. 


51 


and  his  revelations  of  the  first  and  second  advent  of 
Christ.  The  pyramid  stands  at  the  apex  (or  rather  ten 
miles  south  of  the  apex)  of  the  Delta  of  the  Nile,  and  in 
the  centre  of  the  habitable  globe,  or  the  land  surface  of 
the  earth.  It  stands  four-square  on  the  thirtieth  parallel 
of  latitude,  its  four  sides  facing  exactly  the  four  points  of 
the  compass,  north,  south,  east,  and  west.  There  are  in 
each  side  of  the  base  just  365I  cubits,  which  is  the  pre¬ 
cise  number  of  days  in  the  year,  with  the  six  hours  addi¬ 
tion.  Its  chief  corner-stone  is  not  at  the  base,  but  at  the 
top,  the  ape.x,  and  symbolizes  Christ,  “  the  head  corner¬ 
stone.”  Psa.  112:22.  It  has  no  trace  of  idolatry  in 
writing,  painting,  or  sculpture.  The  lidless  and  empty 
coffer  in  the  King’s  Chamber  was  never  intended  for  a 
sarcophagus  or  royal  tomb,  but  it  is  a  metrological  mon¬ 
ument  or  standard  measure  of  capacity  and  weight  for  all 
ages  and  nations,  equivalent  to  the  laver  of  the  Hebrews 
or  four  quarters  of  English  measure.  It  accomplishes 
the  mathematical  feat  of  squaring  the  circle,  the  height 
being  to  the  circumference  of  the  base  as  the  radius  is 
to  the  circumference  of  a  circle.  The  very  name  of  the 
pyramid  means  “measure  of  wheat”  (from  irupof,  wheat, 
and  //erpov,  measure).  The  Grand  Gallery  which  leads  to 
the  King’s  Chamber  symbolizes  the  Christian  dispensa¬ 
tion,  and  indicates  in  pyramid  inches  the  thirty-three 
years  of  the  Saviour’s  earthly  life.  The  first  ascending 
passage  represents  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  the  other 
narrow  passages  mean  lower  religions.  Such  profound 
design  and  wisdom  can  only  be  traced  to  divine  revela¬ 
tion,  like  the  building  of  the  Tabernacle  by  Moses.  The 


52 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Great  Pyramid,  though  in  Egypt,  was  not  of  Egypt,  but 
stands  in  contrast  to  Egyptian  idolatry  and  beast  worship. 
It  was  probably  built  by  Melchisedek,  the  friend  of  Abra¬ 
ham,  the  worshipper  of  the  only  true  God,  the  priest-king 
who  typified  our  Saviour.  He  was  that  mysterious  stran¬ 
ger,  the  shepherd  “  Philitis,”  or  “  Philition,”  i.  e.,  a  Philis- 
tian  from  Palestine,  who,  as  Herodotus  was  informed,  fed 
his  flocks  at  Gheezeh  about  the  time  when  the  Great 
Pyramid  was  built,  and  took  some  part  in  it.*  Cheops 
merely  furnished  the  workmen  and  the  material  for  his 
royal  sepulchre ;  but  Melchisedek  executed  his  plan, 
revealed  to  him  from  God,  for  a  monument  of  the  pure 
faith  in  the  midst  of  surrounding  idolatry,  and  as  a  sign 
and  wonder  for  after  ages. 

This  is  the  astounding  theory  which  has  been  adopted 
by  several  respectable  English  and  American  write’rs, 
but  is  silently  ignored  by  the  first  Egyptologists  of  the 
age  as  unworthy  of  serious  notice.  I  am  unable  to  fol¬ 
low  Piazzi  Smyth  into  the  intricacies  of  his  scientific 

*  Herodotus  was  told  by  Egyptian  priests  that  “Cheops,  on  ascending 
the  throne,  plunged  into  all  manner  of  wickedness.  He  closed  the  tem¬ 
ples  and  forbade  the  Egyptians  to  offer  sacrifices,  compelling  them  instead 
to  labor,  one  and  all,  in  his  service,”  viz.,  in  building  the  Great  Pyramid. 
Book  IT.,  chap.  124  (Rawlinson’s  transl.,  Vol.  IL,  p.  169).  He  states  more¬ 
over  (chap.  128)  that  “the  Egyptians  so  detest  the  memory  of  these  kings 
[Cheops  and  Chephren]  that  they  do  not  much  like  even  to  mention  their 
names.  Hence  they  commonly  call  the  pyramids  [the  first  and  second] 
after  Philition,  a  shepherd  who  at  that  time  fed  his  flocks  about  the  place.” 
This  Philition  is  no  doubt  a  confused  and  anachronistic  allusion  to  the 
Hyksos  or  shepherd  kings  (from  Hyk,  king,  and  sos,  shepherd),  who  may 
have  invaded  Egypt  from  Palestine  or  Philistia,  and  whose  memory  as 
foreign  conquerors  was  hated  by  the  Egyptians.  But  their  invasion  took 
place  after  the  twelfth  dynasty,  or  nearly  one  thousand  years  after 
Cheops. 


THE  PYRAMIDS. 


53 


calculations,  and  measurements.  I  am  quite  ready  to 
admit,  from  general  impressions,  that  the  builder  of  this 
monument  was  in  possession  of  an  astonishing  amount 
of  mathematical  and  astronomical  knowledge.  But  the 
prophetic  theology  and  Messianic  symbolism  of  the  pyra¬ 
mid  seem  to  me  to  have  no  better  foundation  than  the 
conjecture  of  the  famous  mediaeval  traveller  Sir  John 
Mandeville,  who  thought  that  the  pyramids  were  the 
granaries  of  Joseph,  built  for  the  storage  of  grain  for  the 
years  of  famine.  He  did  not  examine  the  interior,  being 
told  that  they  were  full  of  serpents.  Piazzi  Smyth  has 
examined  the  interior,  and  put  into  it  a  vast  deal  of  his 
own  wisdom,  after  the  eisegetical  manner  of  those  alle¬ 
gorical  and  typological  exegetes  who  make  the  Scriptures 
responsible  for  their  own  pious  thoughts  and  fancies, 
never  dreamed  of  by  the  sacred  writers.  Why  should  the 
Great  Pyramid  be  an  exception  to  all  the  rest }  If  it  is 
free  from  idolatrous  inscriptions,  so  are  the  others  which 
contain  only  the  cartouches  of  the  royal  builders.  The 
pyramid  of  Cheops,  moreover,  is  surrounded  by  monu¬ 
ments  of  idolatry,  as  the  temple  of  the  Sphinx  and  the 
Sphinx  himself,  to  whom  divine  worship  was  offered.  If 
the  Grand  Gallery  prophesies  the  life  of  Christ,  it  should 
certainly  lead  to  something  more  important  than  a  me¬ 
trological  coffer.  This  would  indeed  be  but  one  step 
from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous.  And  if  the  Great 
Pyramid  was  intended  for  a  divine  sign  and  wonder,  why 
was  its  meaning  hidden  for  forty  or  fifty  centuries,  and 
revealed  only  in  our  day.?  Why  is  there  no  mention 
whatever  of  it  in  the  Bible  .? 

5* 


54 


BIBLE  LAMBS. 


We  are  indeed  directed  to  Isa.  19:  19,  20,  where  the 
prophet  speaks  of  “an  altar”  and  a  “pillar,”  which  shall 
be  for  “  a  sign  and  witness  unto  the  Lord  of  hosts  in  the 
land  of  Egypt but  this  is  predicted  as  a  fuhire  event 
by  Isaiah,  who  lived  many  centuries  after  the  building 
of  the  Great  Pyramid.  Smyth  quotes  also  Jer.  32 : 20, 
where  the  prophet  speaks  of  “  signs  and  wonders,”  which 
the  Lord  “has  set  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  eve7i  unto  this 
day,  and  in  Israel,  and  among  other  men ;  and  has  made 
him  a  name  as  at  this  day.”  But  not  to  speak  of  the  plu¬ 
ral  which  cannot  refer  to  a  single  building,  the  very  next 
verse  shows  plainly  that  Jeremiah  alludes  to  the  miracles 
of  Moses  :  “  And  hast  brought  forth  thy  people  Israel  out 
of  the  land  of  Egypt  with  signs  and  with  wonders,  and 
with  a  strong  hand,”  etc.  It  is  very  evident  that  such 
exegesis  is  a  poor  recommendation  to  the  allegorical  in¬ 
terpretation  of  the  pyramid. 

The  Bible,  as  far  as  I  know,  alludes  but  once  to  the 
pyramids,  and  then  with  a  certain  irony,  namely,  in  Job’s 
fearful  denunciation  of  the  day  of  his  birth  (3:  11-14): 

“  Why  at  the  birth  did  I  not  die — 

When  from  the  womb  I  came — and  breathe  my  last? 
Why  were  the  nursing  knees  prepared  ? 

And  why  the  breasts  that  I  should  suck? 

For  now  in  silence  had  I  lain  me  down; 

Yea,  I  had  slept  and  been  at  rest 
With  kings  and  legislators  of  the  earth — 

The  men  who  built  their  pyramids — 

Or  princes  once  enriched  with  gold. 

Their  homes  with  treasure  filled.” 

The  Hebrew  word  cJiaraboth  (nlD^n),  which  in  our 
English  version  is  mistranslated  “  desolate  places,”  means 


THE  PYRAMIDS. 


55 

either  ruins''^  or  (as  the  context  favors)  mausoleums,  pyr¬ 
amids.! 

*  So  Gesenius,  Umbreit,  Schlottmaiin  ZOckler  (in  Lange).  Tayler 
Lewis,  whose  elegant  translation  (in  Lange)  I  have  otherwise  given 
above,  renders  the  word  by  “mouldering  monuments,”  i.  e.,  mouldering 
like  the  memory  of  those  who  built  them. 

t  So  some  of  the  best  Hebrew  scholars  and  commentators,  as  Ewald, 
Dillmann,  Fiirst,  Renan,  Merx,  Evans  (in  Lange).  Fiirst  gives  as  the 
first  meaning  of  “^in  wilderness;  as  the  second  meaning  (in  the  plural 
only)  mausoleum,  pyramid;  and  adds,  byway  of  comment,  “The  vain 
kings  of  Egypt  built  pyramids  as  their  palatial  sepulchres,  which  they 
filled  with  their  treasures.” 


56 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

HELIOPOLIS. 

Heliopolis— Significance  of  the  Name— A  City  of 
Priests  and  Scholars — Its  Antiquity — The  Patri¬ 
archs — Joseph’s  Marriage—Moses’  Education — 
Herodotus,  Plato,  Strabo — Jeremiah’s  Prophecy 
—Present  Ruins— Sphinxes— Obelisk— Vandalism 
— The  Virgin’s  Tree  and  the.  Virgin’s  Fountain — 
Amusing  Ignorance  of  some.  Travellers. 

On  a  sunny  afternoon  in  March  I  made,  in  company 
with  several  American,  English,  and  Scotch  fellow-trav¬ 
ellers,  an  excursion  to  the  ruins  of  Heliopolis,  the  City  of 
the  Sun,  one  of  the  most  ancient  cities  of  the  world.  It 
lies  about  eight  miles  northeast  of  Cairo,  and  can  be 
reached  by  carriage  or  donkey  over  a  good  road,  through 
rich  grain-fields,  meadows,  and  vineyards. 

Heliopolis  is  the  Greek  name  for  the  Egyptian  zi-n-re 
(i.  e.,  “the  abode  of  the  sun”),  from  which  was  derived 
the  Hebrew  On  or  Aoti  (Gen.  41 : 45),  translated  Beth- 
Shemesh  {i.  e„  the  house  of  the  sun,  Jer.  43  :  13).  It  was 
the  Rome  and  Oxford  of  ancient  Egypt,  the  capital  of  its 
hierarchy  and  its  university,  the  centre  of  its  religion  and 
learning.  Every  Pharaoh  brought  his  rich  offerings  to 
this  place,  and  bore  the  proud  title,  “  Lord  of  Heliopolis.” 
Here  was  the  sanctuary  of  the  worship  of  Rah,  or  the 
sun,  and  of  the  sacred  bull  Mnevis.  Here  arose  the 
legend  of  the  wonder-bird  Phoenix,  which  the  early  fathers 


HELIOPOLIS. 


57 


employed  to  illustrate  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection. 
Here  Joseph  the  patriarch  was  married  to  Asenath,  the 
daughter  of  the  priest  Potipherah  or  Potiphar  (i.  e.,  dedi¬ 
cated  to  Rah,  or  priest  of  the  Sun),  and  mother  of  Ma- 
nasseh  and  Ephraim  (Gen.  41:45,  50;  46:20).  Here 
(according  to  Josephus)  the  family  of  Jacob  first  resided 
on  their  arrival  in  Egypt.  Here  Moses  was  instructed 
in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians.  Here  Herodotus, 
“  the  father  of  history,”  acquired  most  of  his  knowledge 
of  that  land  laid  down  in  his  second  book,  where  he  calls 
the  Heliopolitans  “the  best  skilled  in  history  of  all  the 
Egyptians.”  (H.  3.)  Here  Plato,  the  prince  of  Greek 
philosophers,  studied,  and  the  house  in  which  he  spent 
several  years  was  still  shown  at  the  time  of  Strabo. 

The  marriage  of  Joseph  has  given  rise  to  Jewish 
legends  and  an  apocryphal  novel,  which  exists  in  Greek 
and  in  Syriac  under  the  title,  “  The  Life  and  Confession 
of  Asenath,  daughter  of  Pentephres  (Potipherah)  of  He¬ 
liopolis  ;  a  narrative  of  what  happened  when  the  beauti¬ 
ful  Joseph  took  her  to  wife.”  Asenath,  it  is  said,  was  a 
proud  beauty,  living  in  great  splendor  with  seven  attend¬ 
ants,  and  disdaining  all  lovers  except  Pharaoh’s  oldest 
son,  who  loved  her,  but  was  forbidden  by  his  father  to 
marry  her.  When  she  saw  Joseph  from  her  window  as 
he  entered  Heliopolis  to  collect  corn  in  the  first  year  of 
plenty,  she  was  captivated  by  his  beauty,  ran  down, 
hailed  him  as  “  My  lord,  blessed  of  the  most  high  God,” 
and  at  her  father’s  bidding  made  bold  to  kiss  him.  Jo¬ 
seph  refused  to  kiss  an  idolatrous  woman,  but  seeing  her 
tears,  he  laid  his  hand  on  her  head,  and  prayed  God  to 


58 


BIBLE  LAXDS. 


convert  her  to  the  true  faith,  and  then  departed.  She 
threw  her  idols  out  of  the  window,  repented  seven  days, 
saw  an  angel  of  comfort,  and  was  married  to  Joseph  by 
Pharaoh  with  great  pomp.  This  romance  is  in  an  Ethi- 
opic  list  of  canonical  Scriptures  between  Judith  and 
Esther. 

The  glory  of  Heliopolis  has  long  since  departed,  as 
Jeremiah  (43:13)  predicted:  “He  shall  break  the  im¬ 
ages  of  Beth-shemesh,  that  is  in  the  land  of  Egypt;  and 
the  houses  of  the  gods  of  the  Egyptians  shall  he  burn 
with  fire.”  When  Strabo  visited  the  city  twenty-four 
years  before  Christ,  it  was  already  a  heap  of  ruins. 
Nothing  remains  now  of  Heliopolis  but  some  traces  of 
the  massive  walls,  fragments  of  sphinxes,  and  an  obelisk 
of  red  granite  sixty-eight  feet  high,  and  bearing  the 
name  of  Usertesen  I.,  the  second  king  of  the  twelfth  dy¬ 
nasty.  It  reminded  me  of  the  lines  of  Uhland  : 

“Noch  eine  hohe  Saule  zeugt  von  verschwund’ner  Pracht, 
Auch  diese,  schon  geborsten,  kann  stiirzen  iiber  Nacht.” 

This  obelisk  is  one  of  two  which  stood  before  the  Tem¬ 
ple  of  the  Sun  at  the  inner  end  of  an  avenue  of  sphinxes. 
It  is,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  obelisk  which  Lepsius 
discovered  in  the  Necropolis  of  Memphis,  the  oldest  obe¬ 
lisk  extant.  There  it  has  been  standing  for  nearly  four 
thousand  years,  and  there  it  still  stands  in  solitary  gran¬ 
deur  and  unbroken  silence.  Had  it  a  mouth  to  speak,  it 
could  tell  of  the  visit  of  Abraham  and  Sarah,  of  the  wi.c- 
dom  and  purity  of  Joseph,  the  inquisitiveness  of  Herod¬ 
otus,  the  sublime  speculations  of  Plato,  the  mysteries  of 
Egyptian  learning  and  idolatry,  the  rise  and  fall  of  ancient 


HELIOPOLIS. 


59 


empires.  The  vandalism  of  travellers  has  hacked  the 
base  of  this  hoary  monument  with  a  sledge-hammer  to 
steal  some  pieces.  The  bees  have  built  their  cells  in  the 
hieroglyphics  of  two  sides  and  made  them  illegible. 

Heliopolis  is  called  in  hieroglyphic  inscriptions  “the 
City  of  Obelisks,”  from  the  great  number  of  these  columns 
which  once  adorned  its  temples.  They  represented  the 
rays  of  the  sun,  and  were  specially  adapted  to  the  wor¬ 
ship  of  the  sun  and  the  City  of  the  Sun.  The  two  obe¬ 
lisks  of  Alexandria  which  are  inappropriately  called  “the 
Needles  of  Cleopatra,”  stood  originally  in  Heliopolis, 
whence  they  were  removed  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius.  One 
of  them  has  again  been  removed  in  our  own  days,  and 
stands  now  in  London,  a  monument  of  the  earliest  civili¬ 
zation  in  the  centre  of  the  latest.  The  obelisks  of  the 
Vatican,  of  the  Lateran,  and  of  the  Porta  del  Popolo  in 
Rome,  are  from  the  same  city. 

Obelisks  may  be  called  attenuated  pyramids.  They 
are  square  monolith  columns  of  limestone,  red  granite  or 
basalt,  with  a  pyramidical  apex,  and  hieroglyphic  inscrip¬ 
tions  recording  the  titles  and  praises  of  the  royal  build¬ 
ers,  and  the  deity  to  which  they  were  dedicated.  They 
were  erected  in  pairs  before  temples.  The  Egyptians 
cut  them  out  of  the  solid  rock,  floated  them  on  rafts  or 
in  boats  down  the  Nile,  and  raised  them  by  inclined 
planes  on  the  place  of  their  destination.  The  old  Ro¬ 
mans  transported  a  number  of  them  to  Rome  at  an  im¬ 
mense  expense  of  labor. 

About  fifteen  minutes’  walk  from  Heliopolis  is  the 
venerable  sycamore  which  is  called  “  the  Tree  of  the 


Gc 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Virgin,”  because  Mary,  according  to  the  Coptic  legend, 
rested  there  with  Jesus  after  her  flight  from  the  wrath  of 
Herod.  It  is  certainly  a  most  remarkable  tree  for  its 
size  and  its  gnarled  and  jagged  appearance.  The  Khedive 
presented  it,  after  the  inauguration  of  the  Suez  Canal,  to 
the  French  Empress  Eugenie,  who  had  it  surrounded  by 
an  iron  railing.  The  Roman-Catholics,  however,  assert 
that  the  real  tree  of  the  Virgin  died  in  1665,  and  they 
show  its  last  fragments  in  their  convent  at  Cairo.  It  is 
one  of  those  superstitious  legends  which  nobody  can 
either  prove  or  disprove. 

Close  by  this  tree  is  the  so-called  “  Miraculous  Foun¬ 
tain,”  which,  according  to  the  Coptic  tradition,  was  once 
salt,  hut  turned  sweet  when  the  Virgin  Mary  bathed 
the  Holy  Child  in  its  waters.  In  the  same  region  are  the 
gardens  where  once  flourished  the  balsam-tree  which 
produced  the  famous  Balm  of  Gilead.  Now  the  cotton- 
plant  is  cultivated  there. 

Heliopolis  reminds  me  of  an  amusing  specimen  of 
ignorance.  A  rich  California  gold-miner,  who  had  some 
confused  recollections  of  his  Sunday-school  lessons  in 
early  youth,  and  was  travelling  in  Egypt  with  some 
friends,  when  informed  that  in  this  place  Joseph  got  his 
wife,  the  daughter  of  a  priest,  was  quite  astonished,  and 
indignantly  asked,  “  Was  Mary  Magdalene,  that  married 
Joseph,  the  daughter  of  a  priest  V'  The  same  gentle¬ 
man,  when  crossing  the  Delta,  remarked,  “  We  shall  soon 
pass  the  Jordan.”  “  No,”  said  his  friend,  “the  Jordan  is 
a  river  in  Palestine.”  “You  are  right,”  he  replied,  “it 
was  the  Danube  I  meant !”  I  met  this  trav-eller  in  the 


HELIOPOLIS. 


6i 


Mediterranean  Hotel  in  Jerusalem,  when  he  gave  the 
company  at  the  dinner-table  the  important  piece  of  infor¬ 
mation  that  he  had  just  visited  Aceldama,  “the  famous 
place  which  Judas  sold  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver!”  I  felt 
quite  ashamed  of  America,  but  was  somewhat  relieved 
afterward  when  I  asked  an  English  traveller  whether  he 
had  passed  through  the  Desert  and  visited  Mount  Sinai, 
and  was  told  that  he  really  did  not  remember,  and  “must 
first  look  up  his  journal !” 


6 


02 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

UP  THE  NILE. 

The  Nile — The  Dahabeah  and  the  Steamer — Our 
Company  and  Dragoman—^ Memphis  and  the 
broken  Statue  of  Rameses  II. — Sakkara — The  Se- 
rapeum — The  Temple  of  Tih  —  Gebel  el-Tayr — 
Minieh  and  the  Sugar-Factories — The  Tombs  of 
Beni-Hassan — Pictures  and  Hieroglyphics — Osi- 
out— Dr.  Hogg  and  the  American  Mission — A 
Mohammedan  Saint  —  Abydos  —  The  Tablet  of 
Abydos — The  Grave  of  Osiris — The  Temples  of 
Denderah. 

The  Nile  voyage,  whether  on  the  old-fashioned  daha¬ 
beah  or  on  a  modern  steamer,  is  a  perpetual  enjoyment 
and  one  of  the  best  recreations  for  body  and  mind.  It 
is  “a  boating-trip  and  a  donkey-ride  interspersed  with 
ruins.”  There,  better  even  than  in  Italy,  you  may  enjoy 
il  dolce  far  nicnte.  Egypt  is  the  land  of  sunshine  and 
starlight,  with  a  delicious  climate.  February  and  March 
are  as  pleasant  as  our  May  and  June;  and  yet  the  sum¬ 
mer  is  less  oppressive  there  than  in  New  York. 

The  Nile  is  truly  a  river  of  life.  It  spreads  fertility 
and  plenty  east  and  west  on  its  long  course.  No  wonder 
that  it  was  worshipped  as  a  god.  Herodotus  calls  Egypt 
“an  acquired  country  and  the  gift  of  the  Nile.”  This  is 
as  true  now  as  it  was  three  thousand  years  ago.  With¬ 
out  this  noble  river  the  land  would  be  as  arid  and  barren 


UP  THE  NILE. 


63 

as  Arabia.  In  the  middle  of  July  the  water  begins  to 
rise,  in  consequence  of  the  tropical  rains  and  the  melt¬ 
ing  of  the  snows  on  the  mountains  of  equatorial  Africa ; 
in  the  early  part  of  October  it  reaches  its  height,  and 
sends  its  blessings  through  innumerable  canals  over  the 
fields.  The  water  has  been  called  “  the  champagne  of 
waters.”  The  Nile  is  the  Eastern  “father  of  waters,” 
“  the  high  priest  of  rivers,” 

“  Whose  waves  have  cast 
More  riches  round  them,  as  the  current  rolled 
Through  many  climes  its  solitary  flood. 

Than  if  they  surged  with  gold.” 

Invalids  and  those  who  have  abundance  of  time  pre¬ 
fer  the  dahabeah,  which  depends  upon  the  wind  and  may 
require  three  months.  But  travellers  who  have  but  a  few 
weeks  to  spare  take  the  steamer,  which  makes  the  voyage 
from  Cairo  to  the  (first  Cataract  and  back  in  twenty  days, 
and  to  the  second  Cataract  from  Wady-Halfa  (or  Halfeh) 
in  twelve  days  more.  The  whole  distance  from  Alexan- 
andria  to  the  second  Cataract  is  964^  miles.  The  tourist 
Cook  has  chartered  the  steamers  from  the  Khedive,  and 
charges  ;£47  (^235)  for  the  twenty  days’  trip,  and  £,Zo 
($400)  for  the  thirty-two  days’  trip,  including  provisions 
and  donkey-rides.  Every  ton  of  coal  has  to  be  brought 
from  England.  Some  take  the  railroad  as  far  as  Osiout, 
and  thence  either  the  dahabeah  or  the  steamer,  gaining 
in  this  way  nearly  a  week.  But  twenty  days  are  not  too 
much  for  a  voyage  which  is  fraught  with  unusual  interest 
from  beginning  to  end. 

We  start  on  the  6th  of  February  and  return  on  the 


64 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


26th.  Our  company  consists  of  forty-seven  persons, 
English,  Scotch,  and  Americans — clergymen,  merchants, 
manufacturers,  colonels,  captains,  two  lords,  and  five 
ladies.  We  get  along  very  pleasantly,  though  differing 
widely  in  taste  and  occupation.  The  physician  of  the 
ship  is  a  Greek,  and  is  more  ornamental  than  useful  ;  he 
left  all  his  medicine  behind,  and  his  services  are  never 
called  for ;  he  takes  part  in  every  excursion,  and  tries  to 
learn  a  little  English.  Our  dragoman,  Mohammed  Ale- 
vah,  a  Moslem  from  Luxor,  is  intelligent,  obliging,  hu¬ 
morous,  and  amusing.  He  had  in  the  same  capacity 
accompanied  the  celebrated  Egyptologist,  Professor  Lep- 
sius  of  Berlin,  Mr.  Naville  of  Geneva,  and  many  others. 
He  speaks  English  fluently,  although  he  cannot  read  it. 
Every  morning  at  breakfast  he  unfolds  the  programme 
for  the  day  with  the  introductory  remark,  “  I  beg  your 
pardon,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  if  you  please.”  Some  la¬ 
dies  of  our  company  had  a  curiosity  to  see  his  wife  and 
his  bright  boy,  whom  he  intends  to  send  to  the  old  Uni¬ 
versity  of  Cairo,  and  he  gratified  them  when  we  arrived 
at  Luxor. 

The  steamer  stops  at  every  place  of  interest.  As 
soon  as  we  arrive  at  a  town,  men,  women,  and  children 
flock  to  the  shore  and  cry  for  backsheesh.  It  is  amusing 
to  see  them  scramble  and  fight  and  dive  into  the  Nile  for 
the  coppers  thrown  among  them  by  passengers.  The 
little  donkeys  with  their  big  red  saddles  are  ready  to  take 
us  to  the  scene  of  interest,  and  the  fleet,  barefooted  boys 
who  have  them  in  charge  run  in  front  or  behind  for  miles 
without  getting  exhausted.  These  donkey-rides  are  very 


UP  THE  NILE. 


65 


exhilarating.  The  donkey  is  easily  mounted  ;  sometimes 
it  stumbles  and  sends  the  rider  gently  over  its  head  on 
the  sand,  or  it  slips  from  under  him,  to  the  amusement 
of  his  fellow-travellers. 

The  first  excursion  is  made  to  Memphis,  over  fertile 
fields  and  through  stately  palm-groves.  The  ancient 
capital  of  Lower  Egypt,  founded  by  the  first  king,  Menes, 
is  all  desolation.  Nothing  is  left  of  its  temples,  palaces, 
and  monuments,  but  a  colossal  statue  of  Rameses  II., 
lying  mutilated  on  the  face  in  the  mud.  What  a  satire 
on  the  great  Sesostris,  the  conqueror  of  many  lands,  the 
master-builder  of  Egypt  and  the  oppressor  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel !  Thus  the  prophecy  of  Jeremiah  (46  :  19) 
was  literally  fulfilled :  “Noph  (Memphis)  shall  be  waste 
and  desolate  without  an  inhabitant.” 

About  two  miles  farther  in  the  desert  is  Sakkara,  the 
necropolis  of  Memphis,  the  subterranean  Serapeum  with 
the  colossal  empty  sarcophagi  of  the  sacred  bulls,  eleven 
small  pyramids,  and  the  temple  of  Tih,  with  most  inter¬ 
esting  and  well-preserved  frescoes  that  reveal  in  bright 
colors  as  of  yesterday  the  life  of  ancient  Egypt  and  the 
all-pervading  power  of  kingcraft  and  priestcraft.  An  in¬ 
spection  of  the  remains  of  Egyptian  bull-worship  explains 
the  ease  with  which  the  Israelites  so  soon  after  their  de- 
jiarture  took  to  the  worship  of  the  golden  calf  in  the  wil¬ 
derness. 

We  resume  the  journey  and  pass  the  extensive  lime¬ 
stone  rock  of  Gebel  el-Tayr,  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
river,  and  in  sight  of  the  famous  Coptic  convent,  or, 
rather,  village  of  priests  and  their  wives,  walled  in  against 


66 


BIBLE  LANES. 


the  Bedawin.  Descending  from  their  precipice  the 
monks  used  to  swim  to  the  steamers  and  dahabeahs  to 
solicit  alms  on  the  ground  of  a  common  Christianity  and 
humanity.  The  Coptic  patriarch  has  recently  forbidden 
this  nuisance. 

At  Minieh,  the  next  stopping-place  and  one  of  the 
best-looking  towns  on  the  Nile,  156  miles  from  Cairo,  we 
inspect  an  extensive  sugar-factory  of  the  Khedive,  which 
looks  almost  like  a  profanation  of  old  Egypt,  but  beto¬ 
kens  a  new  epoch  of  material  progress.  The  factories  of 
the  Khedive,  however,  so  far  are  said  to  have  been  far 
from  being  profitable  to  him. 

At  Beni-Hassan,  which  is  171  miles  from  Cairo,  we 
inspect  the  famous  rock  tombs  on  a  ridge  of  hills.  They 
are  cut  in  the  rock,  and  devoted  to  noble  men  and  women 
of  the  neighborhood  from  the  age  of  the  patriarchs.  They 
present  a  vast  gallery  of  fresco-pictures,  some  defaced 
and  disfigured,  some  still  fresh  and  setting  forth  in  glow¬ 
ing  colors  the  various  scenes  of  ancient  Egyptian  life. 
In  these  mansions  of  the  dead  you  see  “men  and  women 
wrestling,  fishing,  ploughing  and  reaping,  trapping  birds, 
giving  dinner-parties,  being  flogged,  cutting  their  toe¬ 
nails,  treading  the  winepress,  dancing,  playing  the  harp, 
weaving  linen,  playing  at  catchball,  being  shaved  by  the 
barber,  playing  at  draughts.  Verily,  there  is  nothing 

new  under  the  sun .  The  old,  old  story  of  human 

life  is  there,  told  as  in  a  picture-book.  Though  seen 
through  a  gap  of  four  thousand  years,  the  eye  moistens 
over  it  still.  Here  are  life’s  festive  scenes  and  revels — 
the  winecup  and  the  garland  ;  and  here  its  scenes  of  sor- 


UP  THE  NILE. 


67 


row — mourners  are  weeping  over  their  dead.  Nothing 
is  lacking.  And  so,  by  the  mystic  sympathy — that  touch 
of  nature  which  links  man  with  man — you  reach  out  a 
hand  across  the  ages  and  feel  the  throbbings  of  a  human¬ 
ity  kindred  with  your  own.”  Among  these  pictures  is 
the  famous  procession  of  Asiatics,  which  is  supposed  by 
some  to  be  the  presentation  of  Joseph  and  his  brethren 
to  Pharaoh,  or  possibly  a  deputation  of  Israelites  after 
their  settlement  in  Goshen. 

The  hieroglyphic  inscriptions  tell  of  warlike  expedi¬ 
tions,  and  are  full  of  vain  self-glorifications.  Here  is  a 
specimen  from  the  German  translation  by  Brugsch.* 
Ameni,  who  died  in  the  year  43  of  the  reign  of  King 
Usertesen  I.  (the  builder  of  the  Obelisk  in  Heliopolis), 
relates  the  story  of  his  life  on  the  door  of  entrance  :  ”  In 
honor  of  the  governor  of  the  province  of  Mah  (here  fol¬ 
low  other  titles),  who  has  overcome  (death).  I  accompa¬ 
nied  my  lord  on  his  expedition  to  defeat  the  enemies  of 

the  country .  I  entered  the  land  Kasch  (Kush  of 

the  Bible)  up  the  river,  and  came  to  the  extreme  border 
of  the  country.  I  conducted  the  booty  of  my  lord,  and 
my  praise  reached  to  heaven  when  his  holiness  happily 
returned.  He  had  defeated  his  enemies  in  the  miserable 

land  Kasch .  I  was  a  kind  lord,  of  mild  disposition, 

a  prince  who  loved  his  city.  I  spent  many  a  year  as 
prince  in  the  province  of  Mah.  All  the  labors  for  the 
king’s  house  were  in  my  hands.  The  superintendents  of 
the  temples  of  the  gods  in  the  province  of  Mah  gave  me 
thousands  of  bulls  and  calves .  The  whole  province 

*  Gesch.  .^gyptens,  pp.  128-130. 


68 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


labored  for  me.  I  oppressed  no  son  of  the  poor,  no 
widow.  I  expelled  no  owner  of  land,  no  shepherd.  No 
one  was  unhappy  in  my  time,  no  one  hungry,  not  even  in 
the  years  of  famine,”  etc.  The  last  and  some  following 
words  seem  to  allude  to  the  age  of  Joseph  and  the  seven 
years  of  famine.  But  there  are  other  more  unmistakable 
allusions  to  Joseph  and  the  famine  in  the  tombs  of  El- 
Kab,  which  Brugsch  has  recently  brought  to  light.* 

On  returning  to  the  boat  about  fifty  half-naked  Arabs 
surround  us,  screaming  and  scrambling  for  backsheesh ; 
the  sheikh  drives  off  the  boys  with  dirt  and  catches  the 
coppers  himself,  but  the  crowd  return  again  and  again 
like  ravenous  wolves,  until  the  steamer  sails  at  eleven 
o’clock.  We  pass  high  cliffs  with  natural  caves,  in  one 
of  which  St.  Athanasius  is  said  to  have  hid  himself  in 
his  flight  from  Arian  persecution. 

The  same  night  or  next  morning  we  reach  Osiout 
(or  Asyoot,  Sioot),  the  capital  of  Upper  Egypt,  with 
about  30,000  inhabitants,  and  250  miles  from  Cairo. 
It  lies  a  mile  west  of  the  river.  We  pass  through  the 
Arab  bazaar,  and  cannot  ride  nor  walk  through  the  curi¬ 
ous  medley  without  touching  men,  camels,  and  donkeys 
to  the  right  and  left.  We  visit  the  rock-tombs  of  the 
sacred  wolves  which  were  worshipped  here  (hence  the 
ancient  Greek  name  Lycopolis,  i.  e.,  Wolfstown),  and 
ascend  the  mountain  behind  the  city,  from  which  we  en¬ 
joy  a  beautiful  view  over  rich  green  fields  and  the  yel¬ 
low  sand  of  the  Lybian  desert.  Between  the  city  and 
the  mountain  lies  a  large  Arab  cemetery,  with  shining 

*■  Gcsch.  ALgyptens,  p.  244,  seq. 


UP  THE  NILE.  69 

white  monuments,  better  looking  than  the  city  of  the 
living. 

But  the  most  interesting  sight  in  Osiout  is  to  me 
the  large  house  and  church  of  the  American  Presbyte¬ 
rian  mission  at  the  southern  edge  of  the  city.  There  we 
find  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hogg,  a  Scotchman,  with  his  wife. 
Rev.  Mr.  Alexander  of  America,  and  two  assistants,  en¬ 
gaged  in  the  noble  and  self-denying  work  of  instructing 
Coptic  boys  and  girls  in  the  elements  of  education  and 
the  religion  of  the  New  Testament.  The  girls  sing 
hymns  and  recite  geography  with  great  ease  and  cheer¬ 
fulness.  Dr.  Hogg  is  a  tall,  intelligent,  and  energetic 
missionary,  and  has  an  excellent  library,  including  such 
works  as  the  American  edition  of  Lange’s  Commentary, 
Ueberweg’s  History  of  Philosophy,  Van  Oosterzee’s  Dog¬ 
matics.  His  Protestant  church  is  already  self-su^aport- 
ing.  He  has  also  founded  a  theological  school,  where 
half  a  dozen  young  Copts  are  preparing  for  missionary 
work.  This  mission  is  a  beaconlight  of  truth  in  the 
midst  of  surrounding  Mohammedan  and  Coj^tic  darkness, 
and  a  prophecy  of  a  better  future  that  dawns  over  Egypt. 

Proceeding  on  our  journey,  between  Girgeh  and  Den- 
dera  we  see  a  strange  specimen  of  Mohammedan  asceti¬ 
cism  ;  a  reputed  saint  sitting  in  the  sand  on  the  banks  of 
the  Nile,  unclothed  even  to  indecency,  surrounded  by  a 
dozen  admirers.  The  sailors  come  up  and  kiss  his  hand. 
He  is  sunburnt,  has  gray  hair,  looks  stupid,  and  says 
little.  In  this  position  he  is  said  to  have  been  for  forty- 
five  years.  He  almost  comes  up  to  the  glory  of  Simeon 
Stylites,  who  in  the  fifth  century  spent  six-and-thirty 


70 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


years  on  a  pillar  under  the  scorching  Syrian  sun,  the 
drenching  rain,  the  howling  storm,  preaching,  praying, 
bowing,  and  vainly  striving  after  superhuman  perfection. 
Alfred  Tennyson  has  graphically  described  his  experience 
in  a  monologue  to  God. 

By  a  donkey  ride  of  six  miles  from  Bellianeh,  across 
fertile  fields  of  grain  and  beans  to  the  border  of  the  des¬ 
ert,  we  reach  Abydos.  It  is  remarkable  for  its  temple 
ruins,  as  the  birthplace  of  Mena  or  Menes,  the  first  Egyp¬ 
tian  king,  and  as  the  burial  place  of  Osiris,  the  chief 
Egyptian  divinity.  It  was  once  second  only  to  Thebes 
among  the  cities  of  that  country.  In  the  ruins  of  the 
temple  of  Sethi  I.  (the  father  of  Rameses  II.),  we  tarry 
before  the  magnificent  pictures  and  sculptures,  and  the 
famous  new  Tablet  of  Abydos,  which  was  brought  to 
light  by  the  excavation  of  Mariette-Bey  in  1865,  and  of 
which  the  old  Tablet  in  the  British  Museum  found  in  the 
neighboring  temple  of  Rameses  II.  in  1818,  is  an  imper¬ 
fect  copy.  It  presents  Sethi  the  king,  and  Rameses  the 
prince,  offering,  the  one  five,  the  other  two  rolls  of  hymns 
before  the  cartouches  (shields  or  coats  of  arms  enclosing 
hieroglyphic  signs  of  royal  names)  of  seventy-six  kings, 
from  Menes  down  to  Sethi  I.  There  are  seventy-six 
cartouches,  besides  that  of  Sethi,  which  is  often  repeated 
in  the  lowest  line.  The  historical  value  of  this  Tablet  is 
very  great.  Brugsch  counts  from  Mena  (4400  b.  c.)  to 
Sethi  I.  of  the  nineteenth  dynasty  (1366  b.  c.),  3,034  years. 
But  the  Egyptian  chronology,  according  to  his  own  con¬ 
fession,  is  still  far  from  being  satisfactorily  settled,  and 
may  undergo  serious  modifications. 


UP  THE  NILE. 


71 


In  about  five  minutes  from  this  temple  ruin  we  reach 
a  mound  of  debris  called  Kom-es-Sultan,  beneath  which 
is  the  supposed  tomb  of  Osiris.  Mariette-Bey  hopes  to 
find  it  by  excavation.  It  was  to  the  ancient  Egyptians 
as  sacred  as  the  church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is  to  the 
Greek  and  Latin  Christians.  Around  it  were  myriads  of 
tombs  of  rich  Egyptians  who  wished  to  be  buried  near 
this  chief  god.  Osiris  was  a  mortal  god  who  died  and 
rose  again.  He,  his  wife  and  sister  Isis,  and  their  son 
and  avenger  Horus,  the  slayer  of  the  evil  spirit  Ty- 
phon,  form  a  sort  of  trinity  in  unity. 

The  next  place  of  interest  is  the  temple  of  Dende- 
RAH  (Tentyra),  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Nile  about  sixty 
miles  above  Abydos.  We  cross  the  river  in  miserable 
boats,  together  with  the  donkeys.  There  are  three  tem¬ 
ples  there  in  a  pretty  good  state  of  preservation.  The 
great  temple  dedicated  to  Athor,  the  Egyptian  Venus, 
was  completed  under  Nero,  and  shows  the  influence  of 
Greek  and  Roman  art,  but  is  nevertheless  the  most  im¬ 
posing  ternple-ruin  this  side  of  Karnak,  and  gives  a  good 
idea  of  an  Egyptian  sanctuary.  The  great  hall  has 
twenty-four  columns,  crowned  with  the  heads  of  Isis  and 
adorned  with  carvings  and  hieroglyphics.  In  the  inte¬ 
rior  there  are  several  chapels  and  chambers  for  the  king, 
the  priests,  the  treasury,  the  priestly  vestments,  the 
sacred  animals,  the  preparation  for  festivals  and  proces¬ 
sions.  On  the  colossal  pillars  and  walls  there  is  a  profu¬ 
sion  of  symbolical  and  astronomical  representations,  and 
pictures  of  the  gods,  and  of  serpents,  which  appear  in 
every  attitude,  some  walking  on  human  legs,  and  offering 


72 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


strange  offerings  to  the  deities.  On  the  ceiling  of  the 
portico  is  a  picture  of  the  famous  Zodiac,  which  was  once 
thought  to  be  very  ancient,  but  cannot  be  older  than  the 
reign  of  Augustus.  Outside  on  the  wall  is  a  statue  of 
the  voluptuous  Queen  Cleopatra,  and  her  son  by  Julius 
Caesar.  The  view  from  the  terraced  roof  extends  over 
Arab  and  Coptic  houses,  green  fields,  the  Nile,  and  the 
chain  of  hills  beyond  towards  the  Red  Sea. 


LUXOR:  FROM  THE  NILE. 


r  *'  'y  •  ; 


■ 


LUXOR  AND  THEBES.  73 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

LUXOR  AND  THEBES. 

The  Ancient  Splendor  of  Thebes — The  Temple  and 
Obelisk  of  Luxor — A  Fantasia — The  Temple  Ruins 
of  Karnak — A  Forest  of  Columns — The  largest 
Obelisk — Shishak’s  Victory  over  Rehoboam — 
Thebes— The  Temple  of  Koorneh — The  Tombs  of 
the  Kings— The  Rameseum — The  Temple  of  Ram- 
eses  III. — The  Two  Colossi. 

At  Luxor  the  steamer  stops  three  days,  for  here  is 
the  culmination  of  interest. 

Luxor,  Karnak,  Thebes,  are  the  three  names  for 
what  was  once  the  one  city  of  Thebes  (the  Hekatompylos 
Thebe  of  Homer,  the  Diospolis  of  the  later  Greeks,  the 
No  or  No-Ammon  of  the  Old  Testament),  which  in  the 
days  of  its  glory  (1600  to  800  b.  c.)  stretched  about 
thirty-three  miles  on  both  banks  of  the  Nile.  They  are 
now  a  vast  field  of  ruins  and  miserable  Arab  mud  villages. 
The  prediction  of  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  that  the  city  of 
No  shall  be  “cut  off”  and  “rent  asunder,”  has  been  lit¬ 
erally  fulfilled.  But  the  ruins  which  testify  to  her  former 
sjfiendor  are  the  most  enormous  and  imposing  in  the 
world,  not  excepting  the  ruins  of  Baalbek  and  the  Col¬ 
osseum  in  Rome.  Those  temples  and  rock-tombs  are 
fully  equal  to  the  pyramids  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mem¬ 
phis.  The  rock-tombs,  intended  for  the  same  purpose  of 
royal  sepulchres,  are  more  complicated  and  interesting. 

7 


Land  of  thn  Bible. 


74 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


At  Thebes  and  Karnak  you  wander  among  the  ruins  of 
god-like  men  and  human  gods,  the  mysteries  of  king¬ 
craft  and  priestcraft.  We  must  admit  that  the  old  Egyp¬ 
tians  were  the  masterbuilders  of  the  world,  and  high 
above  all  the  Pharoahs  rose  Sethi  I.  and  Rameses  II. 

Luxor  lies  close  on  the  eastern  bank.  We  see  at 
once,  before  we  land,  the  lofty  colonnade  of  a  vast  temple, 
and  the  obelisk  whose  companion  was  transported  to  the 
Place  de  la  Concorde  in  Paris  under  the  reign  of  Louis 
Philippe.  Our  dragoman,  who  resides  in  Luxor,  informs 
us  that  he  saw  it  removed  when  a  boy  (in  1833)  by  2,000 
Arabs  under  400  Lrench  officers.  In  striking  contrast 
with  these  ruins  are  the  wretched  huts  of  the  present 
inhabitants,  except  the  residences  of  the  English,  Amer¬ 
ican  and  German  consuls.  They  are  natives  of  the  coun¬ 
try,  and  very  polite  to  strangers.  Having  nothing  else 
to  do,  they  show  them  the  antiquities  which  they  keep 
for  sale,  and  invite  them  to  evening  entertainments,  con¬ 
sisting  of  smoking,  wretched  Arab  music,  and  strange 
dancing  called  a  “fantasia.” 

An  hour’s  ride  from  Luxor  over  a  grassy  plain  brings 
us  to  the  temple  ruins  of  Karnak,  one  of  the  greatest 
wonders  of  this  land  of  wonders.  An  avenue  of  two 
hundred  sphinxes,  whose  pedestals  still  remain,  while  the 
ram-heads  are  all  broken  off  but  one,  leads  to  the  south¬ 
ern  entrance  of  the  temple ;  similar  avenues  led  to  the 
other  five  entrances.  The  temple  itself  is  nearly  two 
miles  in  circumference,  and  is  surrounded  by  walls  of  80 
feet  height  and  25  feet  thickness.  A  magnificent  portal 
or  propylon,  370  feet  broad,  140  feet  high,  opens  into  a 


LUXOR  AND  THEBES. 


75 


vast  court,  and  there  we  are  in  a  forest  of  120  majestic 
columns,  66  feet  high,  36  feet  in  circumference,  surmount¬ 
ed  by  capitals  and  adorned  with  pictures  and  hiero¬ 
glyphics.  There  too,  surrounded  by  the  Osiris  pillars,  is 
the  largest  obelisk  known,  being  92  feet  high  and  8  feet 
square,  which  (as  we  learn  from  an  inscription)  was  once 
gilded  from  top  to  bottom  and  surmounted  by  a  small 
pyramid  of  pure  gold.  One  of  the  pictures  on  the  walls  is 
a  war-scene  of  Rameses  II.,  and  Shishak’s  victory  over 
the  kings  of  more  than  thirty  nations,  including  Reho- 
boam  the  son  of  Solomon  (971  b.  c.),  which  confirms  the 
account  in  i  Kings  14  :  25,  26,  and  2  Chron.  12  ;  2-9  :  “  So 
Shishak,  king  of  Egypt,  came  up  against  Jerusalem  and 
took  away  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  and 
the  treasures  of  the  king’s  house  ;  he  took  all  ;  he  car¬ 
ried  away  also  the  shields  of  gold  which  Solomon  had 
made.”  The  figure  of  Rehoboam,  which  bears  the  in¬ 
scription  “The  King  of  Judah,”  has  a  strong  Jewish 
countenance. 

Thebes,  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Nile,  was  the 
necropolis  of  the  whole  city,  and  abounds  in  mummies 
of  men  and  sacred  animals  and  in  imposing  monuments 
which  it  would  take  many  chapters  to  describe.  There 
is  the  Temple  of  Koorneh,  reared  by  King  Sethi  to  the 
memory  of  his  father  Rameses  I. 

There  are  the  Tombs  of  the  kings  of  the  eighteenth, 
nineteenth,  and  twentieth  dynasties,  cut  in  the  solid 
limestone  rocks  of  a  desolate,  mysterious  valley,  and  full 
of  colored  sculptures  and  fantastic  paintings  of  strange 
jackal-headed  gods,  serpents,  monsters,  good  and  evil 


76 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


spirits,  dinner-parties,  scenes  of  dancing,  boating,  fighting, 
hunting,  and  every-day  life,  and  the  mysteries  of  death, 
resurrection,  and  judgment.  The  tomb  of  Sethi  I.  reach¬ 
es  back  470  feet  into  the  mountain,  with  a  descent  of  180 
feet.  These  royal  sepulchres  or  catacombs  correspond 
in  size,  like  the  pyramids,  to  the  length  of  the  reign  of 
the  builders  ;  but,  unlike  the  pyramids,  which  have  but 
one  chamber  for  the  royal  mummy,  they  represent,  in 
many  apartments  and  halls,  as  in  the  galleries  of  a  great 
museum,  the  whole  earthly  life  and  surroundings  of  the 
king,  and  his  fate  in  the  other  world.  At  the  end  of  the 
galleries  is  his  immense  granite  coffin,  surrounded  by  rich 
pictures  on  the  walls  and  ceiling.  It  is  supposed  by 
some  that  after  the  burial  of  the  king,  the  tomb  with  its 
treasures  of  gold  and  art  was  closed,  and  never  intended 
to  be  seen  by  mortal  man,  except  the  king  himself  at  his 
resurrection.  And  yet,  in  spite  of  these  precautions,  no 
royal  mummy  has  been  discovered.  Along  the  foot  of 
the  hills  is  one  vast  necropolis  for  the  priests,  high  offi¬ 
cers  of  state,  and  rich  individuals.  Nowhere  out  of  Egypt 
can  such  a  cemetery  be  found.  The  catacombs  of  Rome 
are  poor  and  humble,  like  the  early  Christians  in  the  times 
of  persecution.  The  Theban  catacombs  are  a  subterra¬ 
nean  city  of  palaces,  with  spacious  halls  and  apartments, 
gorgeous  decorations,  and  every  sign  of  life  that  art  can 
represent  in  fresh  colors  as  of  yesterday ;  but  life  itself 
is  gone,  or  turned  into  stone — hard,  cold,  yet  silently 
eloquent  stone. 

We  next  visit  the  Rameseum,  or  Memnonium,  a  truly 
wonderful  temple,  built  by  Rameses  II.  (Sesostris)  to 


LUXOR  AND  THEBES. 


T7 


perpetuate  his  conquests  and  glory.  It  is  his  autobiog¬ 
raphy  in  stones.  His  own  granite  statue  is  the  most 
gigantic  extant,  but  was  overthrown  by  some  catastrophe 
and  mutilated  by  the  Arabs,  and  represents  the  monarch 
in  majestic  repose  towering  above  gods  and  men. 

Then  we  come  to  the  Palace  and  Temple  of  Rame- 
SES  III.,  with  its  labyrinth  of  columns,  courts,  statues,  his¬ 
toric,  military,  and  domestic  pictures  and  inscriptions. 

Finally  we  see  the  two  Colossi,  or  immense  statues, 
before  the  propylon  of  the  destroyed  temple  of  Ameno- 
phis  III.,  rising  sixty  feet  above  the  sand.  They  are  now 
mutilated,  but  “still  keep  their  untiring  watch  over  the 
lapse  of  ages  and  the  eclipse  of  Egypt.”  One  of  them  is 
the  vocal  Memnon  so  celebrated  for  its  musical  sounds, 
which  it  uttered  when  touched  by  the  morning  beams  of 
the  rising  sun  as  a  salutation  of  Amenophis  to  his  mother 
Aurora. 

The  mind  is  overwhelmed  by  these  stupendous  mon¬ 
uments  of  the  ancient  history  and  religion  of  Egypt,  and 
we  gladly  repair  to  the  steamer  for  rest. 


78 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FROM  LUXOR  TO  PHI L^. 

The  Temple  of  Edfou — Assouan — Elephantine — Phi- 
lae — The  P.irst  Cataract — Aboo  Simbel — Return  to 
Cairo. 

After  Karnak  and  Thebes  we  do  not  expect  to  see 
anything  so  grand  in  architectural  and  sculptured  ruins 
and  petrified  history.  And  yet  the  remainder  of  the 
voyage  is  full  of  interest. 

We  next  visit  the  Temple  of  Edfou,  the  best  pre¬ 
served  and  most  complete  in  Egypt.  It  was  built  under 
the  Ptolemies,  requiring  a  period  of  i8o  years,  3  months, 
and  14  days,  from  237  to  57  b.  c.*  It  stands  in  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  the  village  of  that  name,  and  was  dug  up  from  the 
rubbish  by  Mariette  in  1864  under  the  direction  of  the 
Khedive.  It  is  450  feet  long,  the  propylon  250  feet 
broad  ;  the  towers  are  115  feet  high,  and  can  be  ascend¬ 
ed  by  250  steps.  It  is  surrounded  by  walls  covered  with 
hieroglyphic  inscriptions.  It  affords  the  best  idea  of  an 
Egyptian  temple.  It  was  not  a  place  for  a  public  con¬ 
gregation,  but  a  sanctuary  or  sort  of  sacristy  for  kings 
and  priests,  a  home  for  the  gods,  a  depository  of  treasure 
and  sacred  vestments,  a  place  of  preparation  for  festivals 
and  processions.  The  people  were  shut  out. 

Assouan,  the  ancient  Syene,  is  580  miles  from  Cairo, 


'*  Brugsch,  p.  258. 


FROM  LUXOR  TO  PHILXE. 


79 


on  the  boundary  between  Egypt  and  Nubia.  It  is  a  very 
interesting  town  with  about  4,000  inhabitants  of  differ¬ 
ent  races.  The  Nubians  attract  most  attention:  they 
are  almost  naked,  and  as  dark  as  our  negroes,  but  better 
formed,  more  intelligent-looking,  tall  and  slender.  The 
women  wear  an  apron  decorated  with  shells,  and,  like 
Mother  Eve,  are,  “  unadorned,  adorned  the  most.”  The 
bazaar  presents  a  curious  medley  of  races,  with  donkeys, 
camels,  and  merchandise,  such  as  elephants’  teeth,  skins, 
ebony  clubs,  spears,  lances,  arrows,  straw-baskets,  coins, 
stuffed  crocodiles,  and  ostrich  feathers  and  eggs.  Miss 
Martineau  relates  that  a  girl  offered  her  an  English  half¬ 
penny  for  sale,  and  that  her  ear-trumpet  was  examined 
with  quick  curiosity  and  taken  to  be  a  pipe  with  an  enor¬ 
mous  bowl ! 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Assouan  are  the  famous  quar¬ 
ries  which  furnished  materials  for  the  statues,  temples, 
pyramids,  and  palaces  of  the  Pharaohs.  “  Islands,  quar¬ 
ries,  crags  along  the  river  side,”  says  Dean  Stanley,  “  all 
seem  either  like  grotesque  colossal  figures,  sitting  with 
their  grim  features  carved  out  against  the  sky,  their  vast 
limbs  often  smoothed  by  the  inundations  of  successive 
ages,  or  else,  like  the  same  statues,  broken  to  shivers. 
One  can  quite  imagine  how,  in  the  days  when  power  was 
will  and  will  was  power,  Rameses,  returning  from  his 
Ethiopian  conquests,  should  say,  ‘  Here  is  the  stone,  hard 
and  glittering,  from  which  my  statue  shall  be  hewn,  and 
here  is  the  model  after  which  it  shall  be  fashioned.’  ” 

We  must  not  miss  seeing  the  famous  obelisk  in  the 
quarry,  half-finished  and  half-imbedded  in  the  rock.  It 


8o 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


is  the  youngest,  as  that  of  Heliopolis-is  the  oldest,  of  the 
obelisks,  and  it  will  never  be  removed  from  its  birthplace. 
We  wonder  at  the  mechanical  powers  with  which  such 
immense  blocks  of  stone  could  be  detached,  dressed, 
lifted,  and  carried  down  the  river,  and  then  erected  some 
hundreds  of  miles  away  from  home. 

The  island  of  Elephantine,  opposite  Assouan  and 
extending  to  the  foot  of  the  cataract,  is  no  more  an  “  Isl¬ 
and  of  Flowers,”  but  half-covered  with  rubbish,  broken 
pottery,  and  a  few  ruins  of  a  temple.  The  most  inter¬ 
esting  object  there  is  a  Nilometre  to  indicate  the  rise 
and  fall  of  the  divine  river  Nilus. 

We  leave  Assouan  by  camel  or  donkey  through  the 
desert  for  Phil^  and  the  First  Cataract.  This  was 
the  southern  limit  of  the  journey  of  Herodotus. 

Philae  is  a  beautiful,  flowery  island  of  palm-trees  and 
temple  ruins  above  the  cataract.  By  a  judicious  expense 
of  capital  and  labor  it  might  be  made  an  Isola  Bella  or 
Isola  Madre,  with  a  delightful  climate  in  winter.  Ruins 
of  temples  of  Osiris  and  Horus,  with  sculptures  describing 
the  death,  burial,  resurrection,  and  enthronement  of  Osi¬ 
ris,  attract  our  attention.  They  date  from  the  period  of 
the  Greek  Ptolemies  who  restored  the  old  Egyptian  idol¬ 
atry.  Paganism  lingered  in  this  remote  island  many 
years  after  the  edict  of  Theodosius. 

A  steamer  is  waiting  to  take  a  few  passengers  farther 
up  the  Nile  through  Nubia  to  the  Second  Cataract,  to 
see  the  wonderful  temple  of  Aboo  Simbel,  or  Ipsambool 
(170  miles  south  of  Philae),  cut  in  the  solid  rock,  with  four 
statues  of  Rameses  IF,  so  colossal  that  his  ear,  mouth. 


THE  COLOSSI  OF  MEMNON:  THEBES. 


THE  TEMPLE- FRONT  OF  ABOO  SIMBEL. 


J 


..  '.I 


I 


FROM  LUXOR  TO  PHILXE. 


8i 


nose,  and  every  limb  of  his  body  has  the  size  and  weight 
of  a  separate  statue.  But  we  must  forego  this  pleasure, 
and  advise  the  reader  to  peruse  the  graphic  description 
of  Miss  Amelia  B.  Edwards,  who  spent  several  days 
there.* 

We  return  on  the  western  side  of  the  First  Cataract. 
The  Nile  here  widens  into  a  lake  with  many  islands  of 
various  fantastic  formations  and  colors,  and  rushes  foam¬ 
ing  and  roaring  over  the  rocks  of  porphyry  and  granite. 
Naked  Nubians  shoot  down  the  Cataract  on  blocks  of 
wood  for  a  few  shillings.  The  passage  down  the  river  is 
made  in  a  few  days  with  few  and  short  stoppages. 

We  have  drunk  from  the  Nile,  feasted  on  ruins  of 
temples  and  tombs,  and  communed  with  Rameses  the 
Great,  and  with  the  greater  Moses,  his  younger  contem¬ 
porary  and  antagonist ;  and  we  arrive  in  Cairo  enriched 
with  a  photographic  gallery  of  the  wonders  of  old  Egypt. 

*  A  Thousand  Miles  Up  the  Nile.  Being  a  yoiirney  through  Egypt  and 
Nubia  to  the  Second  Cataract.  London,  1877. 


82 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  X. 

EGYPTOLOGY  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

“  And  Jesus  answered  and  said,  I  tell  you  that,  if  these  shall  hold  their 
peace,  the  stones  will  cry  out.”  Luke  19  : 40. 

Sources  of  Knowledge  of  Ancient  Kgypt — The  Pen¬ 
tateuch,  Manetho,  Herodotus — The  Monuments 
and  Hieroglyphic  Inscriptions — The  Papyri — 
Champollion,  Young,  Brugsch,  Birch — Egypt  and 
the  Pentateuch — The  Works  of  Hengstenberg, 
Ebers,  Vigouroux — Egyptian  and  Biblical  Chro¬ 
nology — Abraham’s  Visit — Joseph  in  Egypt — Mo¬ 
ses  and  Pharaoh — Rameses  II.,  the  Pharaoh  of 
the  Oppression — Menephtha  I.,  the  Pharaoh  of 
the  Exodus — General  Results — Egyptian  History 
and  Bible  History. 

Till  quite  recently,  our  knowledge  of  ancient  Egypt 
was  confined  to  three  scanty  sources. 

1.  The  Pentateuch,  and  occasional  allusions  in  later 
books  of  the  Old  Testament. 

2.  The  remains  of  Manetho,  a  priest  under  the  reign 
of  the  first  two  Ptolemies  (between  300  and  250  b.  c.), 
who  wrote  in  Greek  a  history  of  the  Pharaohs  from  the 
sacred  records  of  Heliopolis.  Some  fragmients  of  it  and 
a  catalogue  of  thirty  royal  dynasties  from  Menes  down 
to  Nectanebo,  343  b.  c.,  have  been  preserved  through 
Josephus  (“against  Apion”),  Julius  Africanus  (“  Chro- 
nographia,”  A.  D.  220,  indirectly  through  Syncellus,  a.  d. 
800),  and  Eusebius  (“  Chronicon.”)* 

*  The  remains  of  Manetho  and  other  ancient  authorities  are  conve¬ 
niently  printed  in  the  first  volume  of  Chevalier  Bunsen’s  Egypt's  Place  in 


EGYPTOLOGY  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


83 


3.  The  accounts  of  Greek  travellers,  who  visited 
Egypt,  Herodotus  (b.  c.  454),  Diodorus  Siculus  (b.  c.  58), 
and  Strabo  (about  b.  c.  30).  Herodotus  was  not  a  criti¬ 
cal  historian,  but  a  story-teller,  who  believed  and  told 
what  he  saw  and  heard  with  the  simplicity  of  a  child, 
without  raising  the  question  of  veracity.  Yet  he  was  no 
holiday  traveller;  he  had  an  intense  curiosity,  and  gath¬ 
ered  a  vast  deal  of  information,  which  has  been  partly 
verified  by  modern  research.  The  information  of  Plu¬ 
tarch  and  the  elder  Pliny  on  Egyptian  matters  is  derived 
from  secondary  sources,  but  the  former  gives  an  instruc¬ 
tive  account  of  the  worship  of  Isis  and  Osiris. 

These  sources  of  information  have  been  greatly  en¬ 
larged  in  the  present  century,,  by  the  study  of  monu¬ 
mental  inscriptions  and  papyrus  rolls.  Napoleon’s  expe¬ 
dition  to  Egypt  had  a  similar  effect  upon  Europe  as 
Alexander’s  victories  had  upon  Asia ;  both  brought  the 
East  and  the  West  into  closer  contact,  enlarged  the 
sphere  of  knowledge,  and  stimulated  progress.  The 
Egyptians  were  most  industrious  scribes,  and  their  liter¬ 
ature,  though  far  behind  the  Greek  and  Roman  in  ge¬ 
nius  and  general  interest,  is  very  extensive  in  theology, 
government,  medicine,  astronomy,  mathematics,  and  poe¬ 
try,  except  the  drama. 

The  hieroglyphic,  the  shorter  hieratic,  and  the  popu¬ 
lar  demotic  inscriptions  on  temple  walls,  tombs,  and 
pyramids,  in  pictures  and  sculptures,  were  a  sealed  book 

Universal  History,  translated  from  the  German  by  Cottrell  (London,  184S), 
pp.  605-731,  and  in  the  Synoptical  Tablets  appended  to  the  K onigsbuch 
of  Prof.  Lepsius  (Berlin,  1858). 


84 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


till  the  accidental  discovery  of  the  famous  Rosetta  stone 
(1799),  thirty-six  miles  east  of  Alexandria,  by  a  French 
officer  of  artillery.  It  is  an  oblong  square  slab  of  black 
syenitic  basalt,  nowin  possession  of  the  British  Museum., 
and  contains  a,triple  inscription,  namely,  a  decree  of  the 
priests  in  honor  of  Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  in  the  Egyptian 
language  (both  in  hieroglyphic  and  demotic  characters), 
together  with  a  Greek  translation.  By  means  of  this 
translation,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  Coptic  or  old  Egyp¬ 
tian  language,  it  was  possible  to  construct  the  hiero¬ 
glyphic  alphabet  and  to  interpret  the  inscription.  The 
name  of  King  Ptolemy^  which,  like  all  the  royal  names,  is 
enclosed  in  an  elliptical  frame  or  cartouch,  gave  the  first 
clew  to  the  alphabet.  Another  bilingual  inscription,  with 
the  cartouch  of  Cleopatra  (which  has  five  sounds  in  com¬ 
mon  with  Ptolemaios)  was  afterwards  discovered  on  a 
small  obelisk  at  Philae.  The  cartouch  of  Alexander  aid¬ 
ed  in  a  similar  manner. 


CLEOP.Vl'RA. 


EGYPTOLOGY  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


?5 


The  hieoroglyphic  signs  are  partly  ideographic  or  pic¬ 
torial,  partly  phonetic.  A  French  Egyptologist,  Jean 
Francois  Champollion  (b.  1790,  d.  1832),  and  a  learned 
English  physician,  Thomas  Young  (1816),  independently 
and  almost  simultaneously  led  the  way  in  the  deciphering 
of  the  hieroglyphic  inscriptions.  The  results  are  summed 
up  in  a  complete  hieroglyphic  and  demotic  dictionary  and 
grammar  by  the  English  Egyptologist,  Samuel  Birch 
(in  the  5th  volume  of  Bunsen’s  Egypt' s  Place  in  History, 
pp.  335-716),  and  by  the  German  Egyptologist,  H. 
Brugsch  (1867). 

The  Papyrus  rolls  were  discovered  in  tombs  and 
mummies,  and  transferred  to  the  Egyptian  museums  in 
Boulak,  Turin,  London,  Paris,  Berlin,  Leyden.  The 
most  important  are  the  Turin  Papyrus  (published  by 
Lepsius  1842  and  1858) ;  the  list  of  kings  from  the  Tem¬ 
ple  of  Abydos  (published  by  De  Rougd  and  Mariette, 
1864);  the  Papyrus  Rollin  (edited  by  Pleyte,  1868);  the 
Papyrus  Ebers  (1873),  of  the  seventeenth  century  before 
Christ,  and  the  Papyrus  Harris,  published  by  Birch, 
which  contains  the  chief  contribution  to  the  history  of 
Rameses  III. 

From  all  these  sources  modern  French,  German,  and 

8 


Bible  Lands. 


86 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


English  scholars  have  endeavored  to  construct  a  consec¬ 
utive  chronological  history  of  ancient  Egypt* 

The  history  of  Egypt  is  not  an  unbroken  current.  It 
is  a  monotonous,  dreary  waste,  like  the  desert,  with  a 
few  prominent  kings  and  events.  The  hieroglyphic  in¬ 
scriptions  are  filled  with  figures  of  kings  worshipping 
animal  gods,  strange  names,  high-sounding  titles,  and 
eulogies  of  kings  and  governors,  their  victories  and  meri¬ 
torious  deeds.  The  people  are  simply  a  mass  of  name¬ 
less  slaves,  used  as  machines  in  war  and  in  peace. 

The  readers  of  this  book  will  feel  a  special  interest 
in  the  bearings  of  the  latest  Egyptological  researches 
upon  Bible  history. 

The  relation  of  Egypt  and  the  Pentateuch  has  been 
chiefly  discussed  by  two  Protestant  scholars — the  late  Dr. 
Hengstenberg  of  Berlin,  in  his  book.  Die  Biicher  Moses 
tmd  ^gypicn  (1841),  and  Dr.  Ebers  of  Leipzig,  in  his 
Algyptcn  und  die  Bucher  Moses  (Vol.  I.,  i868).f  The 
titles  are  characteristic.  Hengstenberg,  the  theologian, 
writing  in  the  apologetic  interest,  puts  the  Pentateuch 

*  We  mention  especially  the  elaborate  works  of  Samuel  Sharpe 
(Early  History  of  Egypt,  London,  1836,  2  vols.),  Bunsen  (Egypt's  Place 
in  Universal  History,  3  vols.,  first  in  German,  then  in  English,  London, 
1848  to  1S67),  Prof.  Lepsius  (Chronologic  der  jplgypter,  Berlin,  1849; 
E)e7ik?na!cr  aus  ./Egypteii  nnd  .rEthiopieJi,  1836;  Etas  Eojtigsbuck,  1858; 
Das  Todtenbiich,  etc.),  and  Dr.  Brugseh-Bey  (Histoire  d'Egypte,  Leipzig, 
1859,  and  his  more  recent  Geschichte  EEgyptens  jtnter  den  Pharaonen,  Leip¬ 
zig,  1877,  which  is  based  almost  entirely  on  the  dismembered  monumental 
records). 

t  The  second  volume  has  not  yet  appeared,  but  his  work  Dnrch  Go- 
sen  ziim  Sinai,  Leipzig,  1872,  may  be  regarded  in  part  as  a  continuation, 
as  it  discusses  the  period  of  the  oppression  and  of  the  Exodus  of  the  Is¬ 
raelites. 


EGYPTOLOGY  AND  THE  BIBLE.  87 


first,  and  treats  the  Egyptian  historian  Manetho  with 
contempt ;  Ebers,  the  Egyptologist,  with  a  purely  histor¬ 
ical  aim  in  view,  puts  Egypt  first,  and  regards  the  Pen¬ 
tateuch  from  the  Egyptian  point  of  view,  allowing  due 
credit  to  Manetho-;  yet  both  come  substantially  to  the 
same  conclusion  as  to  the  genuine  egypticity  of  the 
Bible  records  on  Egypt,  in  opposition  to  the  older  Ra¬ 
tionalists.  “The  history  of  Joseph,”  says  Ebers,  “even 
in  its  details,  is  thoroughly  consistent  with  the  true  rela¬ 
tions  of  ancient  Egypt”  (Preface,  p.  12).  Still  more  re¬ 
cently  a  Roman-catholic  scholar,  F.  Vigouroux,  has 
attempted  a  complete  vindication  of  the  Bible  history 
from  the  modern  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  discoveries, 
beginning  with  the  account  of  Creation  and  ending  with 
the  Exodus,  and  a  discussion  of  the  Hebrew  doctrine  of 
immortality.* 

There  are  four- points  of  contact  between  the  history 
of  ancient  Egypt  and  the  Bible  history  of  Israel ;  the 
chronology,  the  visit  of  Abraham,  the  history  of  Joseph, 
and  the  Exodus  under  Moses.  After  the  Exodus  Egypt 
is  not  mentioned  in  the  Bible  till  the  time  of  Solomon, 
who  married  a  daughter  of  Pharaoh  and  brought  her  into 
the  city  of  David  (r  Kings  3  :  19). 

*  La  Bible  et  les  dicmivertes  modernes  en  Egypte  et  en  A  ssyrie.  Par  F. 
Vigouroux,  de  Saint-Sulpice.  Paris,  1877,  2  vols.  This  is  a  learned 

and  valuable  work,  but  is  disfigured  by  an  attack  on  Protestantism,  which 
the  author  makes  responsible  for  rationalism  and  infidelity.  He  begins 
a  preliminary  history  of  German  rationalism  with  the  unjust  remark,  “Le 
rationalisme  biblique  est  le  fils  de  Luther  ”  (p.  7).  The  defence  of  the 
supernatural  revelation  of  the  Bible  should  be  the  common  task  of  Cath¬ 
olics  and  Protestants,  and  in  fact  Vigouroux  draws  his  best  material  for 
defence  from  Protestant  scholars  of  Germany. 


88 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


I.  THE  CHRONOLOGY. 

The  chronology  of  Egypt  seems  irreconcilable  with 
the  traditional  views  on  the  chronology  of  the  Bible. 
But  both  chronologies  are  still  in  a  state  of  confusion, 
and  cannot  be  satisfactorily  settled  with  our  present 
means  of  information. 

The  Egyptians,  like  the  Babylonians,  Indians,  and 
Chinese,  were  extravagant  in  their  claim  to  antiquity. 
The  priests  who  informed  Herodotus  four  hundred  and 
fifty  years  before  Christ,  claimed  at  that  time  an  age  of 
341  generations,  or  more  than  11,000  years,  for  their  na¬ 
tion,  from  their  first  King  Menes  to  Sethos  (Sethi),  du¬ 
ring  which  “no  god  had  ever  appeared  in  a  human  form” 
(II.,  142) ;  and  beyond  this  Menes  are  the  mythical  ages 
of  the  gods.  Some  take  Menes  himself  to  be  a  mythical 
being,  a  personification  of  the  two  Misrs  (the  Hebrew 
Mizraim),  or  provinces  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt.  The 
Egyptians  themselves  never  had  any  chronology,  and 
only  numbered  the  years  of  each  reign  of  a  king.  The 
dynastic  lists  and  figures  of  Manetho  have  come  down 
to  us  in  a  fragmentary  and  mutilated  state,  and  in  two 
widely-different  recensions,  through  Eusebius  and  Af- 
ricanus  (as  given  by  Syncellus,  who  lived  in  the  age 
of  Charlemagne).  They  differ  again  from  a  chronolo¬ 
gical  fragment  of  Eratosthenes,  to  which  Bunsen  gives 
the  preference  as  far  as  it  goes.  They  are  partly  con¬ 
firmed,  but  also  partly  proved  worthless  (as  Brugsch  as¬ 
serts)  by  monurnental  records.  Manetho’s  reigns  and 
even  his  dynasties  cannot  all  be  successive,  but  some  of 


EGYP TOL OGY  AND  THE  BIBL E.  89 


them  must  be  synchronous,  in  accordance  with  certain 
monumental  inscriptions  and  with  the  natural  division  of 
the  country  into  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt.  Manetho 
himself  speaks  of  contemporary  “kings  of  Thebais  and 
of  the  other  provinces  of  Egypt,”  and  the  monuments 
represent  one  king  meeting  another,  and  mention  the 
years  of  one  king’s  reign  corresponding  with  those  of 
another.  This  fact  at  once  greatly  reduces  the  five  thou¬ 
sand  or  more  years  which  the  champions  of  successive 
dynasties  suppose  to  have  elapsed  between  Menes  and 
Alexander  the  Great.  Besides,  it  is  impossible  on  either 
theory  to  ascertain  the  precise  length  of  the  several 
reigns.  In  the  first  eighteen  dynasties  not  one  solitary 
date  has  been  fixed  with  certainty.  Brugsch  allows  to 
each  Pharaoh  an  average  of  thirty-three  years,  or  only 
tliree  reigns  in  a  century;  while  others,  with  greater 
probability,  diminish  the  average  length  of  reigns  one- 
half.  Accordingly  the  Egyptologists  vary  in  their  esti¬ 
mates  over  3,000  years. 

The  first  Pharaoh,  Menes,  or  Mena,  began  to  reign. 


According  to  Boeckh- . - . B.  c.  5702. 

“  “  Unger . “  5613. 

“  “  Marietta  and  Lenormant . “  5004. 

“  “  Brugsch  I. . “  4455. 

“  “  Brugsch  II. . “  4400. 

“  “  Chabas . - . -  “  4000. 

“  “  Lepsius  and  Ebers . .  “  3892. 

“  “  Bunsen  (earlier  view) . “  3623. 

“  “  Bunsen  (later  view) -  “  3039. 

“  “  Birch . “  3000. 

“  “  Poole .  “  2700. 

“  “  Wilkinson . - .  “  2691. 

“  “  G.  Rawlinson - “  2450. 


8* 


90 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


The  latest  writers  on  the  subject,  who  widely  differ 
in  their  views,  frankly  admit  that  Egyptian  chronology 
is  still  utterly  uncertain  and  needs  reconstruction.*  We 
must  therefore  wait  for  further  light  and  a  better  agree¬ 
ment  among  Egyptologists. 

And  as  to  the  Bible  chronology,  theologians  are  still 
divided  between  the  long  system  of  the  Septuagint, 
which  would  put  the  creation  of  man  5400  years  before 
Christ  (Hales  5400,  Jackson  5426),  and  the  short  system 
of  the  Hebrew  text,  which  brings  it  down  fourteen  hun¬ 
dred  years  later  (Usher  4004  b.  c.,  Petavius  3983  b.  c.). 
There  is  no  agreement  till  we  come  down  to  the  age  of 
Solomon  (looo  b.  c.). 

Fortunately  religion  and  the  authority  of  the  Bible 
do  not  depend  on  chronology,  any  more  than  on  astron¬ 
omy  or  geology  or  any  other  science. 

II.  ABRAHAM’S  VISIT  TO  EGYPT  (Gen.  12:10-20). 

This  visit  was  brief  and  occasioned  by  a  famine.  The 
friendly  reception  of  Abraham,  a  Semitic  nomade,  and 
the  use  of  camels  (ver.  16),  which  do  not  appear  on  the 
early  monuments  of  Egypt,  suggest  that  the  visit  took 
place  under  the  reign  of  one  of  the  Hyksos  or  Semitic 
Shepherd  kings  (fourteenth,  to  seventeenth  dynasty),  but 

*  Brugsch,  in  the  Preface  to  his  Geschichie  unter  deti  Pharaone7t, 
and  R.  Stuart  Poole,  in  the  Art.  Egypt  in  the  7th  vol.  of  the  Eitcyd.  Brit., 
9th  ed.  Canon  Rawlinson  {The  Origin  of  Nations,  Lond.  1S78,  pp.  17-3T) 
puts  the  establishment  of  a  settled  Egyptian  monarchy  and  civilization 
between  B.  c.  2450  and  B.  C.  2250.  This  would  make  it  quite  compatible 
with  the  Septuagint  chronology,  which  dates  the  Deluge  anterior  to  b.  c. 
3000. 


EGYPTOLOGY  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


QI 


some  put  it  earlier,  in  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  dy¬ 
nasty.  In  this  record  we  first  meet  the  name  of  Pha¬ 
raoh,  which  is  used  in  the  Scriptures  and  on  the  monu¬ 
ments  as  a  generic  name  for  king,  as  we  use  “Czar”  for 
the  emperor  of  Russia,  and  the  “  Sublime  Porte”  for  the 
government  of  the  Sultan.* 

The  brief  description  of  the  visit  of  Abraham  agrees 
well  with  all  that  is  known  of  the  age  of  the  Pharaohs  in 
that  remote  period.  The  objection  of  Von  Bohlen  that 
no  horses  are  mentioned  among  the  presents  of  Pharaoh 
to  Abraham  (ver.  12,  16),  is  turned  into  an  argument  for 
the  historicity  of  the  account  by  the  fact  that  no  horse 
appears  on  monuments  prior  to  the  period  of  the  Hyksos, 
while  at  a  later  period  the  Bible  often  mentions  Egyptian 
horses  (Gen.  47  :  17  ;  Exod.  9  :  3  ;  Deut.  17:16;  i  Kings 
10:28).  The  fear  of  Abraham  lest  he  be  deprived  of 
Sarah  by  Pharaoh  and  be  slain  for  her  sake,  derives  con¬ 
firmation  from  several  documents  which  show  that  the 
despots  of  Egypt  were  capable  of  such  conduct  even  in 
the  time  of  their  highest  civilization.  According  to  the 
story  of  “The  Two  Brothers” — the  earliest  Egyptian  fic¬ 
tion  extant  from  the  age  of  Rameses  II,,  found  in  the 
Papyrus  d’Orbiney  in  the  British  Museum — the  Pha¬ 
raoh  of  the  time  sent  two  armies  to  capture  a  beautiful 
woman  and  to  murder  her  husband.  In  another  ancient 

*  The  word  Pharaoh,  Pi-rao,  was  formerly  derived  from  the  Egyptian 
article  Pi  or  Ph,  and  the  Coptic  Oiiro,  i.  <?.,  kmg  (Jablonski)  ;  or  from  Pi 
and  Ra,  the  Sun-god,  whom  the  king  of  Egypt  represented  (Rosselini, 
Lcpsius,  etc.);  but  according  to  the  latest  view  it  means  “the  Great 
House^”  and  is  equivalent  to  the  Turkish  designation,  “the  Sublime 
Porte”  (De  Rouge,  Brugsch,  Ebers).  See  Ebers,  pp.  263-265;  Brugsch, 
P-  582. 


92 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


papyrus  of  the  twelfth  dynasty,  preserved  in  Berlin,  it  is 
stated  that  the  wife  and  children  of  a  foreigner  were  con¬ 
fiscated  by  the  king  as  a  matter  of  course.  The  favora¬ 
ble  reception  of  Abraham  is  illustrated  by  the  picture  in 
one  of  the  tombs  of  Beni  Hassan,  which  represents  the 
arrival  and  distinguished  reception  of  a  Semitic  nomad 
chief  with  his  family  and  dependants  seeking  the  protec¬ 
tion  of  the  governor  of  the  province  under  Usertesen  II. 

III.  JOSEPH  IN  EGYPT.  Gen.  37—50. 

The  whole  inimitable  story  of  Joseph,  as  related  in 
the  last  chapters  of  Genesis,  his  sale  as  a  slave,  his  temp¬ 
tation  by  the  unfaithful  wife  of  Potiphar,  his  imprison¬ 
ment  on  a  false  charge,  the  dreams  of  the  butler  and  ba¬ 
ker,  the  two  dreams  of  Pharaoh  and  their  interpretation, 
the  subsequent  elevation  of  the  patriarch  and  his  family, 
are  shown  by  Ebers  to  be  thoroughly  Egyptian.  It 
might  have  been  written  by  Joseph  himself,  and  incor¬ 
porated  with  many  other  documents  by  the  author  or 
compiler  of  Genesis. 

Many  inscriptions  speak  of  weighty  dreams  of  the 
Pharaohs,  which  were  traced  to  the  inspiration  of  the 
gods.  The  occupations  of  butler  and  baker  are  pictured 
on  monuments.  Seven  was  a  sacred  number  with  the 
Egyptians,  as  well  as  the  Hebrews,  and  often  appears  in 
the  Book  of  the  Dead,  the  Papyrus  Harris,  and  other 
documents.  The  cow  is  the  symbol  of  Athor,  the  god¬ 
dess  of  fertility  (Venus  Genetrix),  who  is  represented 
with  a  cow’s  head.  Fertility  and  sterility,  plenty  and 
f  imine,  depended  then  as  now  upon  the  rise  of  the  Nile, 


EGYPTOLOGY  AND  THE  BIBLE.  93 

from  which  the  seven  cows  of  the  dream  of  Pharaoh 
ascend. 

One  of  the  oldest  papyri  translated  by  Goodwin, 
relates  the  story  of  a  foreigner  raised  to  the  highest 
rank  at  the  court  of  Pharaoh.  Brugsch  (p.  246)  discov¬ 
ered  an  inscription  in  the  tombs  of  Baba  at  El-Kab  from 
the  age  of  Joseph,  and  finds  an  unmistakable  allusion  to 
the  seven  years  of  famine  in  these  words ;  “  I  gathered 
grain,  a  friend  of  the  god  of  harvest.  I  was  watchful  at 
the  seed-time.  And  when  a  famine  arose  through  many 
years,  I  distributed  the  grain  through  the  town  in  every 
famine.”  Brugsch  thinks  that  there  cannot  be  the  least 
doubt  that  the  “many  years”  refer  to  the  historical  fact 
of  the  seven  years’  famine  at  the  time  of  Joseph,  the 
only  one  of  such  a  long  duration  recorded  in  history.* 

These  and  similar  coincidences  are  independent  of 
the  age  to  which  we  assign  Joseph. 

IV.  THE  EXODUS  OF  THE  ISRAELITES. 

We  need  not  be  surprised  that  the  monuments  of 
Egypt  are  silent  concerning  the  miracles  of  Moses  and 
the  national  calamity  and  humiliation  which  overtook 
the  king  and  his  army  in  pursuit  of  a  despised  race. 
They  mention  the  victories,  but  rarely  any  defeat  of  the 
Egyptians.!  The  Hebrews,  however,  are  mentioned  in 

*  Ebers,  in  his  article  Egypten  in  Riehm’s  Handwbrterbiich  des  Bib- 
lischen  Alterthn/ns  (1876),  p.  330,  seq.,  is  not  so  positive  about  this  refer¬ 
ence,  but  deems  it  very  probable. 

t  “//  Eest  pas  a  penserP  says  De  Rouge  (as  quoted  by  Vigourou.x,  II., 
p.  297),  “  que  les  Egyptiens  aient  jamais  cousigne  ni  le  souvenir  des  plaies, 
ni  celui  de  la  catastrophe  terrible  de  la  Mer  Rouge  ;  car  leurs  monuments  ne 
coHsacrent  que  bieji  rarement  le  souvenir  de  leurs  dlfaites." 


94 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Egyptian  papyri  under  the  name  of  “  Aperiu,”  or  are 
included  under  the  name  of  “foreigners”  or  “lepers.” 
There  remain  also  pictures  and  inscriptions  which  repre¬ 
sent  Jews  as  making  and  piling  bricks  under  the  threat¬ 
ening  lash  of  Egyptian  taskmasters,  in  confirmation  of 
Exod.  1 :  14.  Dr.  Ebers  relates  that  he  saw  in  Goshen, 
at  Mashuta,  near  a  monument  of  granite  bearing  the 
name  of  Rameses  II.,  bricks  made  by  Hebrews,  some 
with  straw,  and  some  without  (Exod.  5  : 7.).* 

Josephus,  the  church  fathers  and  older  divines,  as¬ 
sumed  that  the  Hyksos  or  Shepherd  kings,  who,  accord¬ 
ing  to  Manetho,  ruled  5  1 1  years  over  Egypt, f  were  the 
Israelites,  and  that  their  expulsion  by  the  first  sovereign 
of  the  eighteenth  dynasty  was  the  Egyptian  version  of 
the  Exodus.  But  this  view  is  now  mostly  given  up  as 
untenable.  For  the  vain-glorious  Egyptians  would  never 
have  admitted,  without  necessity,  their  dependence  upon 
a  despised  race  of  foreigners.  The  Bible  knows  nothing 
of  a  Jewish  dynasty  of  rulers  over  Egypt;  even  Joseph 
was  only  the  chief  servant  of  Pharaoh,  and  his  descend¬ 
ants  were  held  in  bondage.  The  Hyksos  and  the  Israel¬ 
ites,  though  of  the  same  Semitic  race,  must  be  distin¬ 
guished,  and  the  Exodus  be  put  after  the  expulsion  of 
the  former.  Zoan  (Tanis,  the  Arabic  San),  the  capital 
of  the  Shepherd  kings,  in  the  northeastern  section  of 
Egypt,  was  built  seven  years  after  Hebron  (Num.  13  :22), 

*  Durch  Gosen  ziun  Sinai,  p.  75,  seq.,  520,  seq.  Some  of  these  bricks 
are  in  the  Berlin  Museum. 

t  But  the  estimates  of  the  length  of  the  Shepherd  domination  vary 
from  260  to  953  years.  See  Ravvlinson,  The  Origin  of  Nations,  pp.  27 
and  31. 


EGYPTOLOGY  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


95 


that  is,  before  the  time  of  Abraham.  Manetho  carica¬ 
tures  the  Exodus  of  the  Israelites  as  an  expulsion  of 
lepers  and  rebels,  and  distinguishes  it  from  the  expulsion 
of  the  Hyksos, 

Who  then  was  the  new  king  of  Egypt  who  “  knew  not 
Joseph”  (Exod.  i:8),  who  inflicted  heavy  burdens  upon 
the  Israelites,  and  corcimanded  them  to  build  “for  Pha¬ 
raoh  treasure-cities,  Pithom  and  Raamses”  (Exod.  i  :  ii) 
And  who  was  the  Pharaoh  who  perished  with  his  army 
in  the  Red  Sea  (ch.  14)  ?  In  other  words,  who  was  the 
Pharaoh  of  the  oppression  under  whom  Moses  was  born 
and  educated ;  and  who  was  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus 
under  whom  Moses,  being  then  eighty  years  old,  received 
his  divine  commission  and  delivered  his  people  from 
bondage  "i  On  this  question  the  Egyptologists  are  divi¬ 
ded  between  two  opinions,  some  putting  the  events  un¬ 
der  consideration  in  the  eighteenth,  others  in  the  nine¬ 
teenth  dynasty. 

I.  Amosis,  or  Aahmes  I.,  the  first  sovereign  of  the 
eighteenth  dynasty  (b.  c.  1706,  or,  according  to  others, 
1525),  is  the  Pharaoh  of  the  oppression;  Thothmes  or 
Tutmes  II.,  about  a  century  later,  is  the  Pharaoh  of  the 
Exodus.  This  is  the  view  advocated  by  Canon  Cook* 
and  formerly  by  Reginald  Stuart  Poole. | 

Amosis  captured  Zoan,  expelled  the  Hyksos,  and 
united  the  country  under  one  crown  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Egypt.  He  would  therefore  be  likely  to  oppress  and 

^  In  the  first  excursus  to  the  “  Speaker’s  Commentary  ”  on  Exodus, 
p.  443,  seq. 

+  In  Article  Egypt  in  the  8th  edition  of  the  “Encycl.  Brit.,”  Vol.  VII. ; 
but  in  the  9th  edition,  Vol.  VII.  (1877),  p.  740,  Poole  gives  up  this  view. 


g6 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


enslave  the  Israelites  who  lived  in  that  most  fertile  dis¬ 
trict.  But  why  did  he  not  drive  them  out  together  with 
the  Hyksos,  who  were  of  the  same  race  and  ruled  in  the 
same  district  t 

The  reign  of  Thothmes  II.  was  short  and  inglorious, 
and  his  death  was  followed  by  a  general  revolt  of  the 
confederated  nations  which  had  been  conquered  by  his 
father  (Thothmes  I.).  He  was  married  to  his  more  ener¬ 
getic  sister  Hatasou,  who  succeeded  him  as  Queen  Reg¬ 
nant.  No  attempt  was  made  to  recover  the  lost  ascen¬ 
dancy  of  Egypt  until  her  younger  brother,  Thothmes  III., 
in  the  latter  part  of  his  long  reign  of  forty-six  years 
(1510  to  1556  B.  c.),  completely  subdued  Syria  and  Meso¬ 
potamia  to  the  banks  of  the  Tigris,  shortly  before  the 
date  when,  according  to  this  hypothesis,  the  Israelites 
entered  the  land  of  promise. 

But  would  this  conqueror,  in  his  march  to  and  from 
Syria,  not  have  attacked  the  hated  Israelites  in  the  wil¬ 
derness  }  And  would  he  have  allowed  them  to  occupy 
Canaan  ?  Is  the  great  prosperity  of  Egypt  and  its  su¬ 
premacy  in  Western  Asia,  which  followed  the  reign  of 
Thothmes  III.,  compatible  with  the  permanent  possession 
of  Canaan  by  the  Israelites  ?  Would  such  a  king  as 
Rameses  II.,  had  he  lived  after  the  Exodus,  have  left 
Palestine  untouched  in  his  irresistible  march  of  conquest 
over  the  continent  of  Asia  ?  And  would  he  not  have 
erected  there,  as  elsewhere,  his  monumental  pillars  of 
victory,  some  of  which  Herodotus  saw  “still  standing  in 
the  part  of  Syria  called  Palestine”  ?*  Canon  Cook  has 

*  Book  II.,  ch.  ig6, 


EG  YP  TOL  OGY  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


97 


done  his  best  to  answer  some  of  these  questions,  but  with¬ 
out  success  ;  and  Poole  has  recently  changed  his  view  in 
favor  of  the  Rameses  theory. 

2.  Rameses  II.,  the  third  sovereign  of  the  nineteenth 
dynasty,  is  the  Pharaoh  of  the  oppression,  and  his  son 
Mernephthah,  or  Menephthah,  is  the  Pharaoh  of  the 
Exodus.  This  is  the  view  adopted  by  the  majority  of 
recent  Egyptologists  —  De  Rouge,  Chabas,  Lenormant, 
Vigouroux,  among  the  French  ;  Bunsen,  Lepsius,  Ebers, 
Brugsch,  among  the  Germans.*  It  brings  down  the  Exo¬ 
dus  to  about  B.  c.  1317. 

Rameses  II.  is  the  Sesostris  of  the  Greeks,  who  blend¬ 
ed  him  into  one  person  with  his  father  Sethi  I.f  He 

*  Brugsch  (in  his  last  work,  p.  549)  speaks  very  confidently :  “  The 
new  Pharaoh,  who  knew  nothing  of  Joseph,  who  founded  and  adorned  the 
capital  of  the  district  of  Tanis,  and  the  city  of  Pi-tum,  the  capital  of  the 
district  afterwards  called  Sethroi'tes,  with  temples,  is  no  other,  can  be  no 
other  than  Rameses  II.,  of  whose  buildings  at  Zoan  the  monuments  and 

papyrus-rolls  speak  in  perfect  harmony .  He  is  the  Pharaoh  of  the 

oppression,  the  father  of  that  unnamed  royal  daughter  who  found  the 
child  Moses  on  the  banks  of  the  river.”  Vigourou.x  is  equally  confident, 
1.  c.,  pp.  204,  seq. 

t  Wilkinson,  in  commenting  on  Herod.  II.  102  (in  Rawlinson’s  His¬ 
tory  of  Herodotus,  II.  144),  remarks:  “The  original  Sesostris  was  the  first 
king  of  the  twelfth  dynasty,  Osirtasen,  or  Sesortasen  I.,  who  was  the  first 
great  Egyptian  conqueror;  but  when  Osirei,  or  Sethi  (Sethos),  and  his  son 
Rameses  II.  surpassed  the  exploits  of  their  predecessor,  the  name  of  Se¬ 
sostris  became  confounded  with  Sethos,  and  the  conquests  of  that  king 
and  his  still  greater  son  were  ascribed  to  the  original  Sesostris.  This  ex¬ 
plains  the  assertion  of  Dicsearchus,  that  Sesostris  was  the  successor  of 
Horus,  mistaken  for  the  god,  but  really  the  last  king  of  the  eighteenth 
dynasty.  For  those  two  kings  did  succeed  Horus  (the  reign  of  Rameses 
I.,  the  father  of  Sethi,  being  so  short  as  to  be  overlooked),  and  their  union 
under  one  name,  Sesostris,  is  accounted  for  by  Rameses  II.  having  ruled 
conjointly  with  his  father  during  the  early  and  principal  part  of  his  reign. 
Mr.  Poole  very  properly  suggests  that  Manetho’s  ‘  SeiJuf  6  koX  'Pe/uuaTjr,'' 

9 


Bible  Laii'la. 


98 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


ruled  sixty-seven  years  (b.  c.,  1388  to  1322*),  at  first  as  co¬ 
regent  with  his  father,  whose  name  he  afterwards  erased 
from  the  monuments.  He  had  many  wives  and  concu¬ 
bines,  and  one  hundred  and  nineteen  children  (fifty-nine 
sons  and  si.xty  daughters),  whose  pictures  and  names  are 
preserved  on  a  temple-wall  at  Abydos.  He  represents 
the  highest  power  and  glory  of  ancient  Egypt.  He  was 
the  great  conqueror  and  builder  who  spread  himself  all 
over  his  empire,  and  covered  it  with  monuments  of  self- 
glorification. f  He  was  among  the  Pharaohs  what  Louis 
XIV.  and  Napoleon  were  among  the  rulers  of  France. 
He  is  the  central  figure  that  meets  us  in  the  colossal 
statues  and  innumerable  cartouches  and  bas-reliefs 
among  the  ruins  of  Tanis,  Memphis,  Abydos,  Thebes, 
Luxor,  Karnak,  Aboo  Simbel,  in  the  Syenite  torso  of  the 
British  Museum,  and  in  the  obelisk  of  the  Place  de  la 
Concorde  in  Paris.  There  is  scarcely  a  ruin  in  Egypt 
and  Nubia  that  does  not  record  the  memory  of  his  con¬ 
quests  and  his  insatiable  passion  for  building.  “  His 
name,”  says  Dr.  Ebers,  “  may  be  read  to-day  on  a  hun¬ 
dred  monuments  in  Goshen.”  He  is  called  on  the  mon- 

should  be  ‘  2  . .  Kai  'P . .’  This  is  required  also  by  the  length  of  their  reigns 
(that  of  the  second  Rameses  being  from  sixty-three  to  sixty-six  years),  and 
by  the  age  of  Rameses  ;  and  the  sculptures  at  Karnak  show  that  he  accom- 
jjanied  his  father  in  his  early  campaigns.  It  seems  too  that  in  the  first 
Sesostris  two  kings,  Osirtasen  I.  and  III.,  were  comprehended;  as  several 
were  under  the  name  of  Moeris.” 

*  The  Egyptologists  differ.  Lepsius  dates  his  reign  from  B.  c.  138S, 
Brugsch  from  1407,  Mariette  from  1405,  Bunsen  from  1352,  Poole  from 
1283. 

t  Maspero  Ancunne,  p.  225)  calls  him  ‘  le  roi  constructeur  par 

excellence,”  Zincke  (Kgypt  of  the  Pharaohs  and  of  the  Khedive,  p.  125),  “the 
most  magnificent  and  prolific  architect  the  world  has  ever  seen.” 


EGYPTOLOGY  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


99 


uments  “the  bull  powerful  against  Ethiopia,  the  griffin 
furious  against  the  negroes.”  He  fought  a  single-handed 
fight  against  overwhelming  odds  in  the  presence  of  both 
armies.  “He  traversed,”  says  Herodotus  (H.  102  and 
103),  “the  whole  continent  of  Asia,  and  conquered  every 
people  which  fell  in  his  way.”  He  also,  according  to  the 
same  authority,  proceeded  in  a  fleet  of  ships  of  war  from 
the  Arabian  gulf  to  the  mouths  of  the  Indus.  Crossing 
to  Europe,  he  subdued  Scythia  and  Thrace,  erecting 
everywhere  pillars  of  victory  with  his  own  name.  We 
cannot  think  without  horror  of  the  immense  sacrifice  of 
human  life  which  these  conquests  and  buildings  required. 
Almost  every  stone  was  reared  with  blood.  And  all  this 
to  gratify  the  pride  and  vanity  of  an  absolute  despot ! 
The  pride  of  Rameses  towered  to  the  height  of  the  gods. 
His  statues  have  superhuman  proportions,  his  face  more 
than  Egyptian  beauty.  All  his  works  are  self-glorifica¬ 
tions.  His  courtiers  and  wives  are  represented  as  per¬ 
forming  acts  of  adoration  before  him. 

Among  his  many  structures  mentioned  on  the  monu¬ 
ments  and  in  papyri,  are  fortifications  along  the  canal 
from  Goshen  to  the  Red  Sea,  and  especially  at  Pi-Tum 
and  Pi-Rameses,  or  Pi-Ramessu.  These  must  be  the 
same  with  “  the  treasure  cities  Pithom  and  Raamses,” 
which  the  Israelites  built  or  enlarged  for  Pharaoh,  ac¬ 
cording  to  Exod.  I  :ii.  For  “  treasure  cities”  (inische- 
noth)  are  magazines  or  depots  of  ammunition  and  provis¬ 
ion.  The  city  of  Rameses,  Pi-Rameses,  named  for  him, 
was  perhaps  only  a  new  name  for  the  old  city  of  Tanis — the 
biblical  and  hieroglyphic  Zoan  (the  modern  Arabic  San),  on 


100 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


a  branch  of  the  Nile,  where  Moses  was  probably  born  and 
where  he  certainly  performed  his  miracles  (compare  Psa. 
78:12,  43).*  It  was  the  capital  of  a  rich  district  and  a 
frequent  residence  of  King  Rameses,  where  he  held  a 
magnificent  court,  reviewed  his  army,  and  from  which  he 
started  on  his  victorious  expeditions  against  the  nations 
of  Western  Asia.  Recent  excavations  at  San  or  Zoan 
have  brought  to  light  many  monumental  inscriptions, 
ruins  of  brick  houses,  and  an  immense  temple  with 
twelve  obelisks,  also  a  colossal  statue  of  Rameses  II., 
seated  between  two  gods,  which  has  been  transferred  to 
the  museum  at  Boulak. 

What  is  more  natural  than  that  such  a  powerful  des¬ 
pot  and  passionate  builder  should  employ  the  Hebrews 
on  the  borders  of  his  empire  in  hard  work  to  make  them 
harmless  during  his  absence  ?  It  is  expressly  stated, 
Exod.  1:10,  that  Pharaoh  was  afraid  the  Hebrews  might 
join  his  enemies  and  fight  against  him.  But  we  have 
more  direct  proof.  The  Hebrews  are  mentioned  under 
the  Egyptian  name  Apcrm  (or  Apuriii)  in  several  official 
reports  (on  the  Leyden  papyri),  two  of  which  are  cer¬ 
tainly  from  the  reign  of  Rameses  H.  They  are  described 
there  as  persons  who,  together  with  the  soldiers,  were 
employed  in  drawing  stones  for  the  fortified  enclosure  of 

*  Brugsch  identifies  Rameses  with  Tanis.  See  his  Address  before 
the  International  Congress  of  Orientalists  in  London,  L'exode  et  les  momi- 
ments  Igyptiens  (Leipzig,  1875),  PP-  22-24.  Poole  adopts  this  view  in  Art. 
Egypt  in  EncycL  Brit.,  vol.  VII.  (9th  ed.).  Ebers  {Durch  Gosen  am 
Smai,  1872,  pp.  5oo,  seq.)  distinguishes  two  cities  of  that  name,  Rame- 
ses-Tunis,  and  Rameses-Machuta,  the  latter  being  situated  farther  south 
on  the  old  canal  of  the  Pharaohs. 


EGYPTOLOGY  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


lOI 


Pi-Rameses,  and  to  whom  their  rations  of  corn  were  de¬ 
livered.*  Brugsch  (p.  563)  mentions  also  as  a  remarka¬ 
ble  fact  that  one  hundred  years  after  his  death,  under  the 
reign  of  his  nephew  Rameses  III.,  the  name  J-en-Mosche, 
i.  e.,  “  the  island  of  Moshe,”  or  “  the  bank  of  Moshe,” 
occurs  among  the  towns  of  Middle  Egypt.  And  among 
the  daughters  of  Rameses  II.  is  one  called  Meri,  probably 
the  same  with  Princess  Merris,  who,  according  to  Jewish 
tradition  and  Eusebius,  saved  Moses. f 

Menephthah  I.|  was  the  thirteenth  son  of  Rameses 
and  began  to  rule  probably  b.  c.  1325  or  1322.  He  marks 
a  period  of  decline,  in  which  the  conquests  of  his  two 
great  predecessors  were  gradually  and  ingloriously  lost. 
Few  monuments  were  erected  in  his  reign,  and  even  his 
father’s  tomb  was  left  unfinished.  This  is  just  what  we 
would  expect  after  the  catastrophe  in  the  Red  Sea.  He 
was  buried  in  his  tomb  at  Biban-el-Moluk,  but  this  may 
have  been  a  mock  burial. §  It  is  also  mentioned  that 
Menephthah  lost  a  son  who  is  named  on  a  monument  of 
Tanis,  and  Brugsch  connects  this  fact  with  the  death  of 
the  first-born  ;  but  on  this  not  much  stress  can  be  laid. 

*  See  a  translation  of  these  reports  in  Ebers,  1.  c.,  p.  502. 

t  She  is  also  called  Thermiitis.  Ebers  thinks  that  she  was  a  daugh¬ 
ter  of  Sethi  I.  and  the  sister  and  wife  of  Rameses  II.  Durch  Gosen,  etc., 
pp.  83  and  525. 

t  Ebers  spells  the  name  Mernephtah.  The  copyists  of  Manetho  differ  ; 
the  usual  form  is  Menephthes,  or  Menephthah.  See  Ebers,  Durch  Gosen, 
etc.,  p.  522. 

§  The  Mosaic  narrative  does  not  expressly  say  that  Pharaoh  himself 
perished  in  the  sea,  but  this  is  almost  necessarily  implied  in  the  words 
‘‘  not  one  of  them  remained  ”  (Ex.  14  ;  28),  and  is  asserted  in  Psa.  106 :  1 1. 
The  Egyptian  monuments  always  represent  the  king  at  the  head  of  his 
army. 


9* 


102 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Of  more  importance  is  another  fact.  Herodotus  tells  us 
(II.  C.  Ill),  that  the  son  and  successor  of  Sesostris  whom 
he  calls  Pheron  (probably  the  famous  Pharaoh  of  the 
Hebrew  record  at  the  time  of  the  Exodus)  undertook  no 
warlike  expeditions,  and  was  smitten  with  blindness  for 
ten  years  because  “  he  impiously  hurled  his  spear  into 
the  overflowing  waves  of  the  river  which  a  sudden  wind 
caused  to  rise  to  an  extraordinary  height.”  This  reads 
like  a  confused  reminiscence  of  the  disaster  in  the  Red 
Sea.  I  am  surprised  that  this  striking  confirmation  from 
the  Greek  historian  seems  to  have  escaped  the  attention 
of  the  writers  whom  I  have  consulted. 

The  only  serious  difficulty  in  this  view  is  the  chron¬ 
ological.  For  if  Menephthah’s  reign  began  b.  c.  1325, 
we  have  less  than  3 1 5  years  between  the  Exodus  and  the 
building  of  Solomon’s  temple  (b.  c.  ioio).  From  these 
must  be  deducted  40  years  for  the  sojourn  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness,  25  years  for  the  period  of  Joshua,  40  for  the  reign 
of  Saul  and  40  for  that  of  David,  which  leaves  us  not 
more  than  about  170  years  (instead  of  330)  for  the  period 
of  the  Judges.  But  the  uncertainties  of  Egyptian  and 
Hebrew  chronologies  deprive  the  objection  of  decisive 
weight. 

Whatever  view  we  take  of  the  Pharaohs  of  the  age  of 
Moses,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  latest  Egyptological 
discoveries  and  researches  are  not  in  conflict,  but  can  be 
harmonized  with  the  Mosaic  accounts,  and  even  confirm 
and  illustrate  them  in  all  their  allusions  to  the  country 
and  people  of  ancient  Egypt.  This  confirmation  is  all 
the  more  convincing  because  it  is  incidental  and  unde- 


EGYPTOLOGY  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


103 


signed.  The  Bible  has  nothing  to  fear  from  Egyptology. 
And  as  to  the  history  of  the  Pharaohs  and  the  history  of 
Israel  there  can  be  no  comparison.  The  one  is  a  barren 
desert,  with  some  lofty  peaks  and  brackish  fountains,  the 
other  a  garden  full  of  unfading  flowers  and  ripe  fruit  for 
the  enjoyment  and  use  of  all  nations  and  ages. 


104 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAFER  XI. 

ANCIENT  AND  MODERN  EGYPT  COMPARED. 

Egypt  the  Old  House  of  Bondage  under  New  Mas¬ 
ters — The  Pharaohs  and  the  People — Character  of 
Egyptian  Art  compared  with  that  of  Ancient 
Greece — Mohammed  Ali  and  Isma  il  Pasha — 
Present  Condition  of  the  People — Reform  and 
•Ruin— Annexation  to  England — The  Cross  and  the 
Crescent. 

The  Bible  calls  Egypt  “  the  house  of  bondage.”  This 
is  as  true  now  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  Moses.  Its  ancient 
ruins  and  the  present  condition  of  the  people  alike  con¬ 
firm  it.  Kingcraft  and  priestcraft  in  possession  of  all 
intelligence  and  power  used  the  people  as  beasts  of  bur¬ 
den  and  mechanical  tools  in  the  times  of  the  Pharaohs, 
and  so  use  them  under  the  present  Khedive.  Modern 
Egypt  is  simply  “  the  old  house  of  bondage  under  new 
masters.” 

Temples  and  tombs  meet  the  traveller  day  after  day 
on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  It  is  a  valley  of  sepulchres 
and  mummies,  of  animal  gods  and  animal  men.  The 
traveller  is  kept  vacillating  between  admiration  for  the 
grandeur  of  the  monuments,  and  contempt  for  the  absurd¬ 
ity  of  the  idolatry  which  inspired  their  erection.  It 
seems  inconceivable  that  a  nation  possessed  of  such  skill 
in  all  the  arts  of  design  could  be  devoted  to  the  worship 
of  beasts  and  reptiles.  St.  Paul  had  them  in  view  when 


ANCIENT  AND  MODERN  EGYPT.  105 


he  speaks  of  wise  fools  who  changed  the  glory  of  the 
incorruptible  God  into  an  image  of  corruptible  man  and 
birds  and  fourfooted  beasts  and  creeping  things.  In  the 
days  of  Herodotus  it  was  easier  to  find  a  god  on  the  Nile 
than  a  man ;  and  in  honor  of  these  gods,  half  men,  half 
beasts,  or  all  beasts,  the  Egyptians  constructed  their 
greatest  works  of  art.  They  built  as  magnificent  tombs 
and  sarcophagi  for  their  sacred  bulls  at  Sakkara  as  for 
their  kings  of  Thebes.  If  the  worshippers  of  beetles  and 
cats,  of  bulls  and  crocodiles  could  do  so  much,  how  much 
more  should  the  worshippers  of  the  true  God  be  able  and 
willing  to  do  But  the  noblest  monuments  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  faith  are  constructed  of  better  material  than  granite 
and  marble.  A  single  church,  or  university,  or  orphan- 
house,  does  more  good  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men 
than  all  the  temples  of  Egypt.  These  were  only  intended 
for  kings  and  priests,  and  were  closed  by  their  outer 
walls  against  the  multitude. 

The  stupendous  proportions  and  the  hoary  antiquity  of 
ihe  temples,  pyramids,  and  rock-tombs,  constitute  their 
chief  attraction.  The  ruins  of  Gheezeh,  Karnak,  Luxor, 
Thebes,  Denderah,  Edfou,  and  Aboo  Simbel,  defy  our 
notions  of  strength  and  sublimity,  and  excite  our  amaze¬ 
ment  at  the  mechanical  skill  which  could  remove  from 
the  quarries  of  Syene,  transport  and  pile  up  such  enor¬ 
mous  masses  of  stone.  Only  absolute  command  over 
unlimited  time  and  unlimited  labor  could  do  it.  The 
explanation  is  a  sad  comment  on  despotic  power.  The 
Pharaohs  forced  thousands  and  millions  of  human  beings, 
subjects  and  captives  of  war,  like  so  many  camels  and 


io6 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


donkeys,  into  the  service  of  their  vanity  and  folly,  without 
any  reward  for  their  toil  and  labor. 

Moreover,  grand  and  imposing  as  is  the  design,  and 
admirable  as  is  the  execution,  there  is  after  all  no  real 
beauty  and  grace  in  the  Egyptian  works  of  architecture, 
sculpture,  and  painting,  if  we  compare  them  with  those  of 
Greece.  The  gods  are  disfigured  by  animal  heads  and 
attributes,  the  men  look  like  machines,  stiff,  stolid, 
monotonous.  The  Egyptian  mind  was  kept  in  bondage 
by  the  dark  powers  of  nature ;  the  Greek  mind  was 
emancipated  and  breathed  the  air  of  freedom  and  man¬ 
hood.  Phidias  and  Socrates  have  done  more  for  civiliza¬ 
tion  than  all  the  Pharaohs  and  Ptolemies. 

In  the  course  of  time  Egypt,  from  the  most  power¬ 
ful  of  empires,  became  “  the  basest  of  kingdoms.”  And 
from  this  condition  it  has  not  yet  risen.  It  is  true,  a  new 
era  of  reform  began  with  Mohammed  Ali  (died  1849), 
the  Napoleon  of  Egypt.  His  grandson,  Isma  il  Pasha, 
the  present  Khedive  or  Viceroy  (since  1863),  is  following 
his  steps,  and  seems  to  have  taken  the  imperial  charla¬ 
tan,  Napoleon  IIP,  “the  nephew  of  the  uncle,”  for  his 
model.  He  is  undoubtedly  an  intelligent,  enterprising, 
and  energetic  ruler,  and  has  all  the  varnish  of  modern 
French  civilization  ;  but  he  builds  from  the  top  down¬ 
ward,  instead  of  building  from  the  foundation  upward — 
and  the  natural  result  is  bankruptcy.  He  constructs,  by 
forced  labor,  railroads  and  canals,  palace  after  palace  for 
himself  and  his  wives  and  concubines,  hotels,  theatres, 
and  sugar  factories ;  he  owns  large  sugar  and  cotton 
plantations,  and  all  the  steamers  on  the  Nile ;  and  he 


ANCIENT  AND  MODERN  EGYPT.  107 


grinds  his  people  to  the  very  dust  by  taxation.  Every 
acre  of  land  and  every  fruit-tree  in  Egypt  is  heavily 
taxed.  His  officials  are  corrupt  and  notoriously  open  to 
bribes ;  he  had  to  send  for  an  Englishman  to  sift  the  bot¬ 
tom  facts  of  his  embarrassment  and  to  straighten  his 
finances.  There  is  no  administration  of  real  justice  ex¬ 
cept  in  the  three  international  courts  recently  established, 
to  which  England,  France,  Germany,  Austria,  Russia,  and 
the  United  States  send  representatives. 

A  more  degraded,  abject,  and  beggarly  people  than 
the  modern  Egyptians  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  within 
the  limits  of  the  civilized  world.  “Backsheesh”  is  the 
first  word  they  learn,  and  the  last  they  forget.  You  hear 
it  everywhere  from  morning  till  night,  from  old  and  young, 
as  if  it  were  “  the  chief  end  of  man.”  It  opens  the  key 
to  everything  worth  seeing  in  the  East  except  the  harems 
and  the  cave  of  Machpelah  at  Hebron.  It  indicates  the 
all-prevailing  poverty  and  misery.  The  villages  of  Egypt 
look  like  shapeless  heaps  of  ruins.  The  houses  in  the 
country,  and  even  in  some  quarters  of  Alexandria  and 
Cairo,  are  miserable  mud-huts,  without  roofs,  without 
beds,  without  furniture,  and  not  much  better  than  Indian 
wigwams.  Men,  women,  and  children  are  huddled  togeth¬ 
er  on  the  bare  floor.  They  have  but  one  garment,  or  a 
few  rags.  They  live  in  the  same  enclosure  and  on  terms 
of  ultra-democratic  equality  with  their  donkeys,  buffaloes, 
cows,  goats,  sheep,  and  chickens  ;  only  the  doves  have  a 
separate  household  in  the  pure  air  above,  and  send  down 
their  contributions  to  the  dirt  of  the  family.  The  women 
work  in  the  field  and  carry  all  the  water  in  heavy  jars,  but 


io8 


BIBLE  LANDS, 


have  little  else  to  do — no  stockings  to  darn,  no  beds  to 
make,  no  linen  to  mend,  no  plates  and  cups  to  clean ; 
their  highest  idea  of  happiness  is  to  sit  on  the  river  bank 
gossiping  and  catching  fleas.  The  children  are  naked, 
and  seldom  if  ever  washed;  even  the  flies  which  encamp 
around  their  eyes  are  left  undisturbed.  Ophthalmia  and 
blindness  prevail  to  a  fearful  extent.  Reading  and  wri¬ 
ting  are  unknown  among  the  common  people ;  they  are 
so  ignorant  that  they  rarely  know  even  their  own  age. 
Birth,  marriage,  and  death  are  the  only  events  in  their 
monotonous  animal  existence. 

And  yet  these  Egyptians  are  not  without  noble  qual¬ 
ities.  They  are  a  submissive,  gentle,  harmless,  and  by 
no  means  unintelligent  race.  They  have  bright  dark 
eyes,  white  teeth,  flue  figures,  and  any  amount  of  physi¬ 
cal  endurance.  Many  of  the  men  are  very  handsome 
and  quick-witted  ;  the  women  are  as  straight  as  the 
palm-trees,  and  carry  their  burdens  skilfully  and  grace¬ 
fully  on  their  heads  or  shoulders.  Even  the  Nubians, 
though  darker  than  our  negroes,  and  far  beneath  them 
in  knowledge,  surpass  them  in  physical  appearance  and 
seeming  capacity  for  higher  attainments.  Like  other 
Mohammedans,  the  Egyptians  are  temperate  in  meat  and 
drink,  and  can  live  on  bread,  lentils,  beans,  dates,  sour 
milk,  and  water.  Mohammedanism  is  a  great  total  absti¬ 
nence  society.  Our  Arab  dragoman  from  Luxor  and  the 
captain  on  the  Nile  indignantly  refused  wine  or  beer 
which  some  less  scrupulous  Christian  passengers  injudi¬ 
ciously  offered  them.  I  often  thought  how  difficult  it 
must  be  for  these  simple-minded  and  contented  Orientals 


ANCIENT  AND  MODERN  EGPYT.  109 


to  be  convinced  of  the  superiority  of  the  Christian  reli¬ 
gion  and  civilization,  if  judged  by  the  luxurious  extrava¬ 
gance  and  intemperance  of  many  English  and  American 
travellers. 

Is  there  any  hope  for  such  a  people.^  Undoubtedly 
there  is,  in  God’s  own  good  time  and  way.  Great  politi¬ 
cal  changes  must  precede.  It  is  not  impossible  that 
Egypt,  the  highway  to  British  India,  will  before  long  be 
annexed  to  England.  The  most  intelligent  men  in  Egypt, 
not  interested  in  the  present  reign  of  the  Khedive,  desire 
it ;  knowing  that  England  has  a  strong  and  honest  gov¬ 
ernment,  would  throw  a  vast  amount  of  capital  into  the 
country,  and  promote  liberty,  education,  and  industry 
among  the  people.  An  English  protectorate  over  Egypt 
would  be  a  part  of  the  solution  of  the  Eastern  question. 
It  would  prepare  the  way  for  a  still  higher  solution,  the 
triumph  of  the  Cross  over  the  Crescent.  “The  Egyp¬ 
tians  shall  cry  unto  the  Lord  because  of  the  oppressors, 
and  he  shall  send  them  a  Saviour,  and  a  great  one,  and 
he  shall  deliver  them.  And  the  Lord  shall  be  known  to 
Egypt,  and  the  Egyptians  shall  know  the  Lord.”  (Isa. 
19:  20,  21.) 


Bible  Landi, 


10 


I  10 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  MOHAMMEDAN  RELIGION. 

General  Character — The  Koran  and  the  Bible  Com¬ 
pared — The  Fundamental  Dogma — Monotheism 
— Fatalism  —  Islam — Paradise — Hell — Other  Arti¬ 
cles  of  Belief —Mohammedan  Ethics— Moham¬ 
medan  Worship  —  Friday — Hours  of  Prayer- 
Dancing  and  Howling  Dervishes — Islam  a  Reli¬ 
gion  of  Men,  not  of  Women  —  Degradation  of 
Woman — Mohammed  and  his  Successors. 

The  Mohammedan  religion  is  a  compound  of  Jewish 
monotheism,  heathen  sensuality,  and  apocryphal  pseudo- 
Christianity,  pervaded  by  devotion  to  Mohammed,  the 
poet  and  prophet  of  Arabia.  It  may  be  called  a  bastard 
Judaism,  as  the  Arabs  are  Ishmaelites,  or  children  of  the 
bastard  son  of  Abraham. 

The  Koran  is  the  Bible  of  the  Moslems,  who  believe 
it  to  be  literally  inspired,  infallible,  and  a  universal  guide 
in  religion,  morals,  grammar,  philosophy,  and  govern¬ 
ment.  It  is  too  sacred  to  be  translated  or  printed,  but 
has  often  been  translated  by  Christians  from  Arabic  into 
modern  languages. 

The  Koran  is  unquestionably  one  of  the  great  books 
of  the  world.  It  has  left  its  impress  upon  ages.  It  feeds 
the  devotions  and  regulates  the  lives  of  more  than  a  hun¬ 
dred  millions  of  human  beings.  It  has  many  passages 
of  poetic  beauty,  religious  fervor,  and  wise  counsel,  but 
mixed  with  absurdities,  bombast,  unmeaning  images,  and 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  RELIGION.  1 1 1 


low  sensuality.  It  abounds  in  repetitions  and  contradic¬ 
tions  which  are  not  removed  hy  the  convenient  theory  of 
abrogation.  It  alternately  attracts  and  repels,  and  is  a 
most  wearisome  book  to  read.  Gibbon  says,  “The  Koran 
is  a  glorious  testimony  to  the  unity  of  God  but  he  calls 
it  also  very  properly  an  “  endless,  incoherent  rhapsody  of 
fable  and  precept  and  declamations,  which  seldom  excites 
a  sentiment  or  idea,  which  sometimes  crawls  in  the  dust, 
and  is  sometimes  lost  in  the  clouds.”  Reiske  denounces 
it  as  the  most  absurd  book,  and  a  scourge  to  a  reader  of 
sound  common  sense.  Goethe  characterizes  the  style  as 
severe,  great,  terrible,  and  at  times  truly  sublime.  Car¬ 
lyle  calls  the  book  “  the  confused  ferment  of  a  great,  rude 
human  soul,  fervent,  earnest,  sincere  in  all  senses.”  But 
this  is  too  much  praise. 

Of  all  books,  not  excluding  the  Vedas,  the  Koran  is 
the  most  powerful  rival  of  the  Bible,  but  falls  infinitely 
below  it  in  contents  and  form.  Both  are  thoroughly  ori¬ 
ental  in  style  and  imagery,  and  born  under  similar  condi¬ 
tions  of  soil,  climate,  and  habits  of  life.  Both  contain  the 
moral  and  religious  code  of  the  nations  which  own  them  ; 
the  Koran,  like  the  Old  Testament,  is  also  a  civil  code, 
for  in  Mohammedan  countries  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
governments  are  one.  Both  have  the  freshness  of  occa¬ 
sional  composition  growing  out  of  a  definite  historical 
situation  and  specific  wants.  But  the  Bible  is  the  genu¬ 
ine  revelation  of  the  only  true  God  in  Christ ;  the  Koran 
is  a  mock  revelation,  without  Christ  and  without  atone¬ 
ment.  The  Bible  is  historical,  and  embodies  the  noblest 
aspirations  of  the  human  race  in  all  ages  to  the  final  con- 


1 12 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


summation  ;  the  Koran  begins  and  stops  with  Moham¬ 
med.  The  Bible  combines  endless  variety  with  unity, 
universal  applicability  with  local  adaptation ;  the  Koran 
is  uniform  and  monotonous,  confined  to  one  country,  one 
state  of  society,  and  one  class  of  minds.  The  Bible  is 
the  book  of  the  world,  and  is  constantly  travelling  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  carrying  spiritual  food  to  all  classes  of 
the  people ;  the  Koran  stays  at  home,  and  is  insipid  to 
all  who  have  once  fully  tasted  the  true  Word  of  the  liv¬ 
ing  God.  Even  the  poetry  of  the  Koran  never  rises  to 
the  grandeur  and  sublimity  of  Job  or  Isaiah,  the  lyric 
beauty  of  the  Psalms,  the  sweetness  and  loveliness  of  the 
Song  of  .Solomon,  the  sententious  wisdom  of  the  Prov¬ 
erbs  and  Ecclesiastes. 

A  few  instances  must  suffice. 

The  first  Sura,  called  “  the  Sura  of  Praise  and  Pray¬ 
er,”  which  is  recited  by  the  Mussulmans  in  each  of  the 
five  daily  devotions,  fills  for  them  the  place  of  the  Lord’s 
Prayer,  and  contains  the  same  number  of  petitions.  We 
give  it  in  a  literal  translation  : 

“  I.  In  the  name  of  Allah,  the  Compassionate,  the  Merciful. 

2.  Praise  be  to  Allah,  Lord  of  the  worlds  ! 

3.  The  Compassionate,  the  Merciful, 

4.  King  on  the  day  of  reckoning  ! 

5.  Thee  only  do  we  worship,  and  to  thee  do  we  cry  for  help. 

6.  Guide  thou  us  on  the  straight  path, 

7.  The  path  of  those  to  whom  thou  hast  been  gracious — 

With  whom  thou  art  not  angry. 

And  who  go  not  astray.  Amen.” 

As  this  Sura  invites  a  comparison  with  the  Lord’s 
Prayer  infinitely  to  the  advantage  of  the  latter,  so  do  the 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  RELIGION 


113 

Koran’s  descriptions  of  paradise  when  contrasted  with 
John’s  vision  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalern  : 

“Joyous  on  that  day  shall  be  the  inmates  of  Paradise  in  their  em¬ 
ploy  ; 

In  shades,  on  bridal  couches  reclining,  they  and  their  spouses. 
Therein  shall  they  have  fruits,  and  whatever  they  require. 

‘  Peace  !’  shall  be  the  word  on  tlie  part  of  a  merciful  Lord, 

‘  But  be  ye  separated  this  day,  O  ye  sinners  !’ 
****** 

The  sincere  servants  of  God, 

A  stated  banquet  shall  they  have 
Of  fruits,  and  honored  shall  they  be 
In  the  gardens  of  delight. 

Upon  couches  face  to  face. 

A  cup  shall  be  borne  round  among  therh  from  a  fountain. 
Limpid,  delicious  to  those  who  drink ; 

It  shall  not  oppress  the  sense,  nor  shall  they  therewith  be 
drunken. 

And  with  them  are  the  large-eyed  ones  with  modest  refraining 
glance,  fair  like  the  sheltered  egg.” 

The  fundamental  dogma  of  Islam  is  contained  in  the 
ever-repeated  phrase,  “  There  is  no  deity  but  Allah,  and 
Mohammed  is  his  apostle.”  ( La  ilaha  ill'  allaJi,  tva 
Muhammeda  rrasuld  Halt.)  The  first  clause  is  true,  and 
borrowed  from  the  Old  Testament  (Deut.  6:4)  ;  the  sec¬ 
ond  clause  is  an  error  which  corrupts  the  truth.  The 
source  of  its  power  and  the  secret  of  its  success  lie  in 
the  intense  and  fanatical  monotheism  of  Islam.  Its  his¬ 
torical  mission  consists  in  the  destruction  of  heathen 
idolatry.  But  this  monotheism,  like  the  Jewish  and  the 
Unitarian  monotheism,  is  abstract  and  monotonous.  It 
excludes  the  fulness  of  life  and  the  inner-trinitarian  rela 
tions  as  well  as  outer-trinitarian  manifestations  of  the 

10* 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


1 14 

Deity.  It  is  hostile  to  the  divinity  of  Christ  and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  It  absurdly  reasons  from  the  pseudo-Chris¬ 
tian  Mariolatry  of  the  Eastern  churches,  that  God  has  no 
\vife,  and  therefore  he  can  have  no  Son  !  The  Mohamme¬ 
dan  God  is  not  a  loving  father  of  trustful  children,  but  a 
despotic  sovereign  of  trembling  subjects  and  slaves.  He 
has  from  eternity  foreordained  all  things,  evil  as  well  as 
good.  The  Mohammedan  doctrine  of  predestination  is 
not  Calvinistic,  but  fatalistic.  It  breeds  a  fierce  fanati¬ 
cism  in  the  propagation  of  religion,  and  a  stolid  submis¬ 
sion  to  unalterable  fate.  Islam — that  is,  unconditional 
resignation  to  the  unchangeable  will  of  Allah — is  the  chief 
virtue.  He  who  dies  fighting  for  his  faith  is  sure  to  be 
saved. 

The  Mohammedan  paradise  is  in  the  seventh  heaven, 
and  is  the  abode  of  perpetual  youth  and  sensual  delight 
for  the  faithful.  Hell  (lahennem — Gehenna)  is  beneath 
the  lowest  earth  and  seas  of  darkness,  and  is  a  place  of 
everlasting  punishment  for  all  infidels,  with  seven  stages 
for  as  many  classes,  viz.,  wicked  Mohammedans,  Chris¬ 
tians,  Jews,  Sabians,  Magians,  idolaters,  hypocrites.  The 
bridge  over  hell  is  finer  than  a  hair  and  sharper  than  the 
edge  of  a  sword ;  the  pious  pass  over  it  in  a  moment,  the 
wicked  fall  from  it  into  the  abyss.  The  Moslems  be¬ 
lieve  also  in  pure  angels,  good  and  evil  genii,  and  devils 
whose  chief  is  Iblees  or  Satan.  They  believe  in  prophets 
and  apostles,  among  whom  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham,  Mo¬ 
ses,  Jesus,  and  Mohammed,  are  the  greatest.  Jesus  ex¬ 
cels  all,  except  Mohammed,  of  whom  he  himself  prophe¬ 
sied,  when  he  promised  that  “other  Paraclete”  (Com- 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  RELIGION. 


115 

forter),  who  should  lead  his  disciples  into  the  whole  truth. 
Jesus  was  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  free  from  sin, 
but  a  mere  man.  He  will  return  again,  and  with  Mo¬ 
hammed  judge  the  whole  world. 

The  principal  duties  enjoined  by  the  Koran  are  prayer, 
almsgiving,  fasting  (during  the  month  of  Ramadan),  and 
pilgrimage  to  Mecca  and  Mount  Arafat  at  least  once  in 
a  man’s  life,  if  possible.  The  less  important  duties  and 
rites  are  abstinence  from  unclean  animal  food,  from  wine 
and  all  intoxicating  liquor,  from  gambling  and  usury; 
also  veracity  (except  in  a  few  cases),  probity,  charity, 
cleanliness,  decent  attire,  circumcision.  The  law  allows 
a  man  to  have  four  wives  (though  most  have  only  one  or 
two),  and  as  many  concubine  slaves  as  he  pleases.  Pashas, 
Khalifs,  and  Sultans  are  not  restricted  in  polygamy.  Di¬ 
vorce  is  made  easy.  Sons  inherit  equal  shares,  but  the 
share  of  a  daughter  is  only  half  that  of  a  son. 

The  Mohammedan  worship  consists  simply  of  prayers, 
with  preparatory  ablutions,  and  occasional  preaching 
from  the  Koran.  It  is  iconoclastic  and  puritanic.  It 
resembles  the  Jewish  and  the  Protestant  worship,  rather 
than  the  Roman  or  Greek  Catholic.  There  is  an  entire 
absence  of  symbolical  representations,  which  might  dis¬ 
tract  the  mind  from  the  one  and  only  object  of  worship. 
The  prohibition  in  the  second  commandment  is  literally 
carried  out.  The  Koran  has  no  idea  of  an  atonement, 
and  hence  no  room  for  sacrifice,  except  the  commemora¬ 
tion  of  Ishmael’s  (Isaac’s)  sacrifice  by  Abraham.  Allah 
is  indeed  “all  merciful,”  and  forgives  sins,  but  arbitrarily, 
without  satisfaction  of  his  justice.  In  this  respect,  as 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


1 16 

also  in  the  doctrine  of  the  abstract  unity  of  the  godhead, 
Islam  resembles  Socinianism  and  Unitarianism.  It  may 
be  called  the  great  Unitarian  heresy  of  the  East.  “  In 
the  name  of  God,  the  Compassionate,  the  Merciful,”  is 
the  phrase  used  at  the  beginning  of  every  chapter  of  the 
Koran  (except  one),  and  of  every  other  book,  as  also  be¬ 
fore  every  lawful  and  important  act.  The  two  words  are 
from  the  same  root,  and  have  nearly  the  same  meaning, 
with  the  distinction,  according  to  the  Ulama  (the  profes¬ 
sors  of  religion  and  law),  that  “  compassionate  ”  means 
“  merciful  in  great  things,”  the  other  “  merciful  in  small 
things.”  But  E.  W.  Lane  (the  author  of  that  most  in¬ 
structive  and  reliable  book  “  The  Modern  Egyptians,” 
and  translator  of  “The  Thousand  and  One  Nights”) 
says  that  “the  first  expresses  an  occasional  sensation, 
the  second  a  constant  quality.” 

Eriday  is  observed  as  Sabbath,  because  on  Friday 
Adam  was  created  and  died,  and  on  Friday  the  world 
will  be  judged.  On  that  day  the  Dancing  and  Howling 
Dervishes  perform  their  unique  exercises,  of  which  I 
shall  speak  afterwards.  But  the  observance  of  Friday  is 
not  nearly  as  strict  as  the  Jewish  observance  of  the 
Sabbath.  On  the  other  hand,  worship  is  not  confined 
to  that  day.  The  mosques,  like  the  Roman-Catholic 
churches,  are  always  open  and  frequented  by  worship¬ 
pers,  who  perform  their  devotions  either  in  groups  or 
alone. 

The  devotions  of  the  pious  Moslem  are  impressive, 
and  put  many  Christians  to  shame.  He  says  his  prayers 
and  goes  through  his  bowings  and  prostrations  regularly 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  RELIGION.  117 


and  punctually  five  times  a  day,  in  the  mosque,  or  at 
home,  or  on  board  a  ship,  or  in  the  street,  or  wherever 
he  may  be,  regardless  of  his  surroundings,  being  alone 
with  his  God  in  the  midst  of  the  crowd,  his  face  turned 
toward  Mecca,  his® hands  raised  to  heaven,  then  laid  on 
the  lap,  his  knees  bent,  his  forehead  touching  the  ground. 
His  usual  prayer  is  the  first  Sura  of  the  Koran,  which 
serves  him  the  same  purpose  as  the  Lord’s  Prayer  does 
the  Christian.  Sometimes  a  few  other  verses  are  added, 
and  the  ninety-nine  beautiful  names  of  Allah  which  form 
the  Mohammedan  rosary.  There  are  five  stated  hours 
of  prayer :  between  daybreak  and  sunrise,  a  little  after 
noonday,  in  the  afternoon,  four  minutes  after  sunset,  and 
at  nightfall.  The  Prophet  fixed  the  seasons  of  prayer  in 
this  way  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  sun  and  star-wor¬ 
ship,  which  he  had  to  contend  with  in  Arabia.  The 
mueddin  or  muezzin  (crier)  announces  the  time  of  prayer 
from  the  minaret  of  each  mosque,  by  chanting  the 
“  Adan,”  or  call  to  prayer,  in  these  or  similar  words : 
“  God  is  most  great.  I  testify  that  there  is  no  deity  but 
God.  I  testify  that  Mohammed  is  God’s  apostle.  Come 
to  prayer !  Come  to  security !  Prayer  is  better  than 
sleeping.  God  is  most  great.  There  is  no  deity  but 
God.” 

Among  the  most  curious  features  of  Mohammedan 
worship  are  the  exercises  of  the  Dancing  and  Howling 
Dervishes,  which  I  witnessed  both  at  Cairo  and  at  Con¬ 
stantinople  (in  Pera  and  Scutari)  on  Friday  and  Tuesday 
afternoon.  TLe  dervishes  are  the  Moslem  monks.  They 
perform  their  astounding  feats  of  asceticism  once  a  week 


ii8 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


in  their  mosques,  and  strangers  are  admitted  on  the  pay¬ 
ment  of  backsheesh.  They  carry  certain  forms  of  ascet¬ 
icism  as  far  as  the  old  Christian  Anchorets  or  the  Fakirs 
of  India. 

The  Dancing  Dervishes,  after  the  preliminary  exer¬ 
cises  of  prayer  and  prostration,  whirl  around  on  their 
toes,  ring  within  ring  without  touching  each  other,  for 
about  an  hour  until  they  are  utterly  exhausted.  I  saw 
thirteen  of  them,  all  dressed  in  white  flowing  gowns  and 
with  high  white  hats  of  stiff  woollen  stuff ;  their  hands 
were  stretched  out  or  raised  to  heaven,  their  eyes  half 
closed  ;  their  mind  was  apparently  absorbed  in  the  con¬ 
templation  of  Allah.  The  performance  consisted  of  four 
different  acts,  and  I  counted  forty  to  fifty  turnings  in 
one  minute.  The  spectacle  is  very  exciting,  and  the 
dexterity  and  elasticity  of  their  bodies  are  astonishing. 
The  faces  betrayed  fanatical  devotion.  But  to  my  great 
amazement  I  saw  the  next  day  one  of  these  very  dervish¬ 
es  in  a  state  of  beastly  intoxication  reeling  to  and  fro  on 
the  large  bridge  of  the  Golden  Horn  without  observing 
anybody.  This  was  a  strange  commentary  on  Moham¬ 
medan  temperance.  The  higher  classes,  I  understand, 
and  it  would  seem  from  this  exceptional  example  even 
dervishes,  freely  indulge  in  the  use  of  strong  brandy  and 
champagne. 

The  Howling  Dervishes  swing  their  heads  up  and 
down,  crying  incessantly  with  all  their  might.  La  ilaha 
ill'  Allah,  and  some  other  phrases,  until  they  are  stopped 
from  sheer  exhaustion.  The  spectacle  in  Scutari  lasted 
with  the  preliminary  prayers  and  songs  nearly  two  hours; 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  RELIGION.  119 

but  it  did  not  impress  me  as  much  as  the  one  in  Cairo  a 
few  months  before,  the  charm  of  novelty  was  gone.  In 
Scutari  the  monks  formed  a  line,  in  Cairo  a  ring,  holding 
each  other  by  the  hand  and  throwing  their  long  hair 
backward  and  forward  so  as  to  present  a  unique  picture. 

In  entering  a  mosque,  we  may  keep  on  the  hat  or 
turban,  but  must  take  off  the  shoes,  or  cover  them  with 
socks,  or  put  on  slippers,  in  commemoration  of  the  divine 
command  to  Moses,  “  Put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet, 
for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground.” 
Slippers  or  sandals  of  straw  are  usually  provided  at  the 
entrance  of  the  mosques,  and  must  be  paid  for.  There 
are  always  half  a  dozen  claimants  for  backsheesh. 

Women  are  seldom  seen  in  the  mosques.  The  Koran 
does  not  command  them  to  pray,  and  some  Mohammedan 
philosophers  doubt  whether  women  have  souls.  Yet 
they  are  necessary  for  the  bliss  of  Paradise,  where  the 
humblest  believer  is  allowed  80,000  slaves  and  72  wives 
besides  those  he  had  in  this  life,  if  he  chooses  to  keep 
them. 

Islam  is  .a  religion  of  men,  while  Christianity  has 
more  followers  among  women.  The  one  keeps  woman 
in  a  state  of  slavery  and  ignorance ;  the  other  raises  her 
to  true  dignity  and  equality  with  man.  In  nothing  is 
the  superiority  of  Christian  civilization  over  Mohammed¬ 
anism  so  manifest  as  in  the  position  of  woman  and  in  the 
home-life.  Polygamy  reduces  woman  to  a  mere  slave 
and  plaything,  and  is  a  fruitful  source  of  domestic  and 
social  misery.  Mohammed  was  comparatively  temperate, 
but  grew  more  sensual  and  cruel  as  he  advanced  in  life 


120 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


and  power.  He  was  first  married  to  a  rich  widow  much 
older  than  himself  (Chadijah),  who  bore  him  four  daugh¬ 
ters  and  two  sons ;  two  months  after  her  death  he  mar¬ 
ried  Sawda,  another  widow,  and  was  betrothed  at  the 
same  time  to  a  mere  girl  of  six  or  seven  years,  Ayesha, 
whose  jealous  hatred  of  Fatima  (his  only  surviving  daugh¬ 
ter  from  Chadijah)  became  the  cause  of  perpetual  dis¬ 
cords  and  schisms.  He  had  in  all  fifteen  regular  wives 
and  many  concubines.  He  despised  a  throne  and  a 
diadem,  he  mended  his  own  clothes,  he  pegged  his  own 
shoes,  he  lived  on  dates  and  water,  in  a  poor  cottage, 
surrounded  by  the  cottages  of  his  wives  and  slaves.  His 
successors  drink  champagne,  live  in  luxury,  and  have 
dozens  of  palaces  and  harems  filled  with  eunuchs  and 
women  who  know  nothing  beyond  the  vanities  of  etiquette 
and  dress.  It  is  painful  to  add  that  the  American  Mo¬ 
hammed,  Brigham  Young,  who  died  in  September,  1877, 
had  nineteen  wives  and  over  fifty  children,  and  left  an 
immense  fortune. 

Mohammed  and  the  savage  sons  of  the  desert,  by  a 
fanatical  faith,  extreme  simplicity  and  temperance,  and 
fierce  bravery,  conquered  the  fairest  portions  of  the 
East,  plundering,  enslaving,  and  destroying  wherever 
they  went,  and  reducing  the  lands  of  the  Bible  to  a  dreary 
ruin.  His  successors  at  the  present  day  have  to  live  at 
the  mercy  of  Christian  Europe.  They  have  shamefully 
wasted  their  opportunities,  and  the  time  of  reckoning  has 
come.  The  Mohammedan  religion  is  indeed  neither  dead 
nor  dying  ;  a  visit  to  its  old  University  in  Cairo,  with 
ten  thousand  pupils,  and  its  progress  among  the  savage 


THE  MOHAAIMEDAN  RELIGION. 


I2I 


races  in  Africa,  are  sufficient  to  prove  its  vitality ;  but  it 
has  ceased  to  be  a  terror  and  insult  to  Europe ;  it  must 
retreat  to  Asia,  it  is  gradually  undermined  by  inevi¬ 
table  changes  in  its  own  strongholds,  and  before  long  it 
will  have  to  open  the  door  for  the  messengers  of  a  purer 
Christianity  than  that  which  it  so  easily  conquered,  not 
by  argument  and  persuasion,  but  by  the  brute  force  of 
the  sword,  which  by  the  slow  but  sure  Nemesis  of  history 
is  now  turned  against  it 


It. 111.'  l.aiiciH. 


1 1 


I  22 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

CHRIS TIAiV/TY  IN  EGYPT. 

Early  Christianity  in  Egypt— St.  Mark— The  Cate¬ 
chetical  School  in  Alexandria— Clement  and  Ori- 
gen  —  Athanasius  the  Great  —  St.  Anthony  and 
Monasticism— Cyril  of  Alexandria— The  Decay  of 
Christianity— The  Triumph  of  Islam— The  Cop¬ 
tic  Church— A  Coptic  Wedding— Protestant  Mis¬ 
sions  among  the  Copts— Drs.  Lansing  and  Hogg 
— The  United  Presbyterian  Mission — English  and 
German  Churches— The  Mission  Schools  of  Miss 
Whately — Statistics. 

Will  Egypt  ever  be  Christianized  again }  Once 
the  gospel  dispelled  Egyptian  darkness,  and  overthrew 
one  of  the  basest  forms  of  civilized  superstition  and  idol¬ 
atry,  which  worshipped  beasts  and  reptiles,  and  built 
magnificent  tombs  for  sacred  bulls  and  wolves  and  croc¬ 
odiles.  The  land  which  sheltered  Joseph  and  the  patri¬ 
archal  family  and  the  infant  Jesus,  accepted  the  message 
of  St.  Mark ;  and  Ale.xandria,  its  capital,  soon  rose  to  be 
one  of  the  patriarchal  sees  of  Christendom.  In  the  sec¬ 
ond  century  the  same  city  boasted  of  a  flourishing  cate¬ 
chetical  school,  in  which  Clement  and  Origen  expounded 
the  Scriptures,  silenced  the  heathen  assailants,  confound¬ 
ed  the  heretics,  and  introduced  Platonic  philosophy  into 
Christian  theology.  There  Athanasius,  the  father  of  or¬ 
thodoxy,  fought  his  life-long  battle  against  Arianism,  and 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  EG  YP T.  1 23 

saved  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  Christianity — the  eter¬ 
nal  divinity  of  Christ. 

In  Egypt  also  arose  the  system  of  Christian  anchoret- 
ism  and  monasticism,  which  reflected  in  the  moral  sphere 
the  startling  contrast  between  the  solemn,  barren  desert 
and  the  smiling  garden  of  the  Nile.  In  the  tombs  and 
caves  of  the  Libyan  desert  St.  Anthony  became  the  pa¬ 
triarch  of  hermits,  and  St.  Pachomius  the  patriarch  of 
monks — both  childless,  and  yet  “  the  fathers  of  an  innu¬ 
merable  generation.”  A  mania  for  the  voluntary  martyr¬ 
dom  of  ascetic  life  spread  with  such  rapidity  in  the  fourth 
century,  that  in  Egypt  the  number  of  anchorites  and  cen- 
obites  in  the  deserts  was  supposed  to  be  equal  to  the 
population  of  the  cities.  “  It  was,”  says  Montalembert, 
“  a  kind  of  emigration  of  towns  to  the  desert,  of  civiliza¬ 
tion  to  simplicity,  of  noise  to  silence,  of  corruption  to 
innocence.  The  current  once  begun,  floods  of  men,  of 
women  and  of  children,  threw  themselves  into  it,  and 
flowed  thither  during  a  century  with  irresistible  force.” 
The  great  Athanasius  wrote  the  life  of  St.  Anthony  (al¬ 
though  this  has  been  recently  questioned),  and  often 
found  shelter  from  persecution  in  the  mountain  caves  of 
the  hermits.  Even  the  first  of  the  Latin  fathers,  Jerome 
and  Augustine,  were  mightily  attracted  by  this  abnormal 
method  of  Christian  holiness,  which  sought  perfection 
and  salvation  in  flight  from  the  world,  rather  than  in  vic¬ 
tory  over  the  world. 

We  must  not  suppose,  however,  that  Egypt  was  ever 
thoroughly  Christianized.  Such  men  as  Origen,  Athana¬ 
sius,  and  Dionysius,  rose,  like  the  Colossi  of  Thebes  or 


124 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


the  Pyramids  of  Gheezeh,  far  above  the  sandy  plain  of 
popular  ignorance  and  superstition.  Anchoretism  and 
monasticism  were  at  best  but  abnormal  and  morbid 
forms  of  Christian  life,  and  grew  out  of  heathen  forms  of 
asceticism  in  the  neighborhood  of  Memphis,  as  much  as 
of  the  Christian  spirit  of  self-denial.  Long  after  the  edict 
of  Theodosius  had  prohibited  heathenism,  the  worship  of 
Osiris,  Isis,  and  Horus,  flourished  on  the  beautiful  island 
of  PhilcC,  above  the  First  Cataract,  where  the  imposing 
ruins  of  their  temples  still  remain.  The  great  mass  of 
the  people  simply  exchanged  a  gross  for  a  reflned  idola¬ 
try.  They  ceased  to  worship  and  mummify  bulls  and 
crocodiles,  beetles  and  snakes,  but  they  idolized  dead 
men,  and  built  shrines  for  their  bones.  What  Egyptian 
Christianity  was  in  the  fifth  century  we  see  in  Cyril  of 
Alexandria,  a  zealot  for  orthodoxy  and  a  despotic  ruffian. 
Ilis  character  is  well  described  in  Kingsley’s  “  Hypatia.” 
Subtle  metaphysical  controversies  absorbed  charity  and 
took  the  place  of  vital,  practical  Christianity.  The  sub¬ 
stance  was  lost,  the  empty  forms  remained.  The  Church 
of  Christ  was  mummified  and  buried  in  the  tombs. 

Hence  Islam  had  an  easy  conquest.  It  triumphed  by 
the  sword  and  the  moral  force  of  its  monotheism.  But, 
as  everywhere  else,  it  made  no  real  progress,  and  has 
seen  its  best  days.  The  Mohammedan  population,  which 
forms  the  great  majority  of  the  five  millions  of  Egyp¬ 
tians,  will  not  be  accessible  to  Christian  missionaries 
until  the  power  of  the  Turks  is  broken  and  the  Eastern 
question  settled  in  favor  of  full  religious  liberty. 

But  there  is  still  in  Egypt  a  considerable  number  of 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT 


125 


Copts  (some  statements  say  500,000),  who  represent  both 
the  old  Egyptian  nationality  and  Christianity.  To  this 
they  adhere  with  traditional  tenacity,  though  otherwise 
they  are  much  assimilated  to  the  Arabs,  or  the  Arabs  to 
them.  They  belong  to  the  Eastern  schismatics,  since 
they  reject  the  orthodox  dogma  of  the  two  natures  of 
Christ,  and  adhere  to  the  Monophysite  heresy.  They 
are  superior  in  talent  and  education  to  the  Arabs,  and 
furnish  most  of  the  scribes  and  government  clerks. 
Their  Christianity  is  petrified,  and  consists  of  empty  cer¬ 
emonies.  They  do  not  understand  their  own  Coptic  lan¬ 
guage,  which  is  the  language  of  the  hieroglyphics. 

I  attended  a  Coptic  wedding  in  a  wealthy  family  of 
Cairo.  It  was  performed  by  the  patriarch,  a  bishop,  sev¬ 
eral  priests  and  choristers,  and  lasted  three  mortal  hours  ; 
for  marriage,  next  to  birth  and  death,  is  the  one  impor¬ 
tant  event  in  the  life  of  an  Egyptian,  and  excites  the 
greatest  interest.  The  ceremony  consisted  of  the  me¬ 
chanical  reading  of  Coptic  and  Arabic  prayers  and  Scrip¬ 
ture  sections  from  a  manuscript  book,  and  of  discordant 
chanting,  or  hallooing,  such  as  I  never  heard  before.  The 
patriarch  looked  tired,  the  bishop  stupid,  the  bridegroom 
indifferent  ;  the  bride,  a  girl  of  fifteen,  in  white  dress 
richly  adorned,  was  veiled  all  over ;  the  choristers  laugh¬ 
ed  ;  the  dense  crowd  of  friends  chatted  in  the  different 
rooms  and  courts  below,  or  listened  to  the  barbaric  mu¬ 
sic.  I  asked  myself.  Is  this  the  Christianity  of  St.  Atha¬ 
nasius  and  St.  Mark  ?  Or  is  it  Christianity  at  all 

And  yet  among  these  Copts  a  remarkable  mission 
work  has  been  going  on  for  the  last  twenty  years,  under 

11* 


126 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


the  care  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  America, 
and  by  the  self-denying  labors  of  Drs.  Lansing  and  Hogg 
and  their  male  and  female  assistants. 

The  first  attempt  at  Protestant  missions  in  Egypt 
was  made  about  a  hundred  years  ago  by  the  Moravians, 
in  the  fervor  of  their  first  enthusiasm,  for  Christ;  but  it 
failed,  because  it  was  begun  in  the  wrong  time.  The 
second  attempt  was  made  by  the  English  Church  Mis¬ 
sionary  Society  about  fifty  years  ago,  but  failed,  because 
it  was  conducted  in  the  wrong  method,  in  the  delusive 
hope  that  the  praying  corpse  of  the  Coptic  Church  could 
be  galvanized  into  a  living  body. 

About  twenty-three  years  ago  the  missionaries  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church  began  their  work  among 
the  Copts.  During  the  first  ten  years  (1855-1865)  it 
was  confined  to  Cairo  and  Alexandria.  Since  then  it  has 
extended  to  Middle  and  Upper  Egypt.  It  began  with 
the  education  of  the  young  during  the  week,  and  preach¬ 
ing  on  Sunday  to  small  but  gradually-increasing  audi¬ 
ences  of  Copts,  Levantine  Greeks,  and  Armenians.  Per¬ 
secution  by  the  clergy,  and  obstructions  and  discourage¬ 
ments  of  all  kinds,  were  not  wanting  ;  but  the  work  stead¬ 
ily  progressed,  souls  were  converted,  schools  multiplied, 
and  native  self-supporting  churches  organized  ;  even  a 
college  and  theological  seminary  were  established  in  Osi- 
out,  the  capital  of  Upper  Egypt,  for  the  training  of  a 
native  clergy.  In  Cairo  and  Osiout  the  mission  has 
acquired  valuable  property  and  erected  suitable  build¬ 
ings,  which  contrast  most  favorably  with  the  mud-houses 
of  the  native  Eg3'ptians. 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT. 


127 


I  examined  these  fields  of  labor,  attended  the  services 
in  the  churches  and  schools,  and  became  convinced  of 
the  solid  and  hopeful  character  of  this  mission  among 
the  Copts,  who  are  naturally  intelligent  and  shrewd.  Dr. 
Lansing  (in  Cairo)  and  Dr.  Hogg  (in  Osiout) — the  for¬ 
mer  an  American,  the  latter  a  Scotchman — are  men  of 
superior  talent  and  education,  as  well  as  devoted  Chris¬ 
tian  character.  They  have  the  right  spirit,  and  are  full 
of  faith  and  hope.  They  have  mastered  the  Arabic,  and 
preach  it  with  fluency.  They  have  good  libraries,  filled 
with  the  latest  works  of  English  and  American  theology. 
The  theological  students  whom  I  saw  seemed  to  be  zeal¬ 
ous  for  evangelistic  work  among  their  countrymen.  The 
day-schools  are  attended  even  by  Arab  children,  and 
extend  a  good  influence  beyond  the  mission.  It  is  an 
encouraging  fact  that  the  Protestant  Copts  in  Osiout, 
and  in  some  new  stations,  show  much  spirit  in  building 
churches,  and  supporting  them  by  their  own  contribu¬ 
tions,  instead  of  relying  on  the  Missionary  Board.  The 
Khedive  has,  from  interest  in  education,  aided  the  Mis¬ 
sion  of  Cairo  by  the  grant  of  a  valuable  lot  in  the  best 
part  of  the  new  city,  opposite  Shepheard’s  Hotel  and 
near  the  New  Hotel,  for  the  erection  of  a  spacious  build¬ 
ing,  which  is  to  accommodate  the  church  and  the  board¬ 
ing-school,  and  to  be  a  depository  of  Bibles  and  Christian 
literature.  Besides  the  Arabic  service,  there  is  also 
English  service  there  every  Sunday  during  the  winter  for 
the  benefit  of  travellers.  Thus  seed  is  cast  upon  the  fer¬ 
tilizing  waters  of  the  Nile,  which  in  due  time  will  sprout 
and  bear  fruit  for  the  great  harvest. 


128 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Presbyterianism  is  the  only  form  of  Protestantism 
which  has  taken  root  among  the  natives  of  Egypt.  It 
is  the  evangelical  pioneer  church.  But  there  are  a  few 
English  and  German  churches  in  Alexandria  and  Cairo, 
for  the  foreign  population  in  these  large  cities. 

An  admirable  educational  work  of  an  unsectarian 
missionary  character  is  carried  on  in  Cairo  under  the 
care  of  Miss  M.  L.  Whately,  the  daughter  of  the  late  Arch¬ 
bishop  of  Dublin.  She  has  been  devoting  the  last  fifteen 
years  to  this  noble  and  self-denying  charity.  Her  schools 
are  near  the  railroad  station,  and  number  at  present  150 
girls  and  250  boys,  divided  into  half  a  dozen  classes.  They 
are  taught  the  elementary  branches  in  Arabic  ;  some  learn 
also  English,  French,  and  Italian.  The  Scriptures  are 
read  and  explained,  and  it  seems  Mohaemmdan  parents 
do  not  object  to  it.  Miss  Whately  told  me,  however, 
that  none  of  her  pupils  would  dare  to  profess  Christian¬ 
ity  and  submit  to  baptism,  which  would  at  once  provoke 
persecution.  She  looks  more  for  indirect  than  direct 
results  of  her  work.  I  saw  the  schools  in  active  opera¬ 
tion,  and  was  very  favorably  impressed.  Among  the 
donations  for  the  year  1876,  the  largest  ($1,000)  was 
from  a  wealthy  and  liberal  lady  of  the  Episcopal  church 
in  New  York.  The  whole  sum  received  was  ;C9SO,  or 
$4,750.  The  building  is  large  and  commodious.  The 
schools  are  independent  of  ecclesiastical  and  episcopal 
control,  but  receive  some  support  from  the  English 
Church  Missionary  Society,  and  may  be  brought  at  some 
future  time  under  the  patronage  of  the  Anglo-Prussian 
Bishopric  of  Jerusalem. 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT. 


129 


During  my  sojourn  in  Cairo,  the  Protestant  clergymen 
and  missionaries  of  Egypt  met  in  the  new  mission  church 
of  Dr.  Lansin-g,  to  form  an  Egyptian  branch  of  the  Evan¬ 
gelical  Alliance,  for  mutual  protection  and  encourage¬ 
ment  in  their  work.  The  meeting  was  large  and  inter¬ 
esting,  and  lasted  three  hours.  It  embraced  a  number  of 
clergymen  from  England,  Scotland,  and  America.  The 
proceedings  were  conducted  in  Arabic,  English,  and  Ger¬ 
man.  I  explained  the  object  and  aim  of  the  Evangelical 
Alliance,  after  which  addresses  were  made  by  Drs.  Yule 
(President  of  the  Branch),  Lansing,  Hogg,  Troutvetter, 
Waddington,  Ewing,  and  Watson.  Some  recent  cases 
of  persecution  of  converted  Copts  were  fully  discussed. 
The  organization  opened  with  considerable  zeal  and 
energy. 

I  add  the  latest  statistics  of  the  American  mission 
work  in  the  dominions  of  the  Khedive,  1877,  as  kindly 
furnished  to  me  by  Dr.  Hogg  of  Osiout : 

Mission  Stations  occupied  by  foreign  missionaries  : 
3  in  the  Delta  (Alexandria,  Monsura,  Cairo) ;  i  in  Mid¬ 
dle  Egypt  (Fayoom)  ;  i  in  Upper  Egypt  (Osiout).  To¬ 
tal,  5. 

Organized  Congregations  :  4  supplied  by  missiona¬ 
ries  ;  4  supplied  by  native  pastors,  i  self-supporting,  3 
partly  self-supporting.  Total,  8. 

Evangelistic  Centres,  or  Out-stations,  where 
converts  have  been  gathered  to  the  number  of  from  3  to 
50:11  supplied  by  preachers  or  evangelists ;  5  worked 
by  native  converts.  Total,  16. 


130 


BIBLE  LAA'JJS. 


Preachers  and  Evangelists  :  Foreign  missionaries 
in  Egypt,  7,  absent,  3,  making  10;  trained  natives,  13. 
Total,  23. 

Schools:  Supported  by  the  Mission,  12,  supported 
by  native  churches,  17,  making  29.  Students  of  theol¬ 
ogy,  8  ;  students  of  Osiout  Training  Academy,  70. 


SECOND  PART. 


THE 


SiNAiTic  Peninsula. 


I 


I 


Bl^CONlD 


The  SiNAiTic  Peninsula. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THIRTY  DAYS  ON  THE  CAMEL. 

The  Great  Desert  —  Its  Significance  in  Sacred  His¬ 
tory — The  Company — The  Dragoman — The  Wait¬ 
er  and  Cook  —  The  Bedawin  —  The  Camel  — The 
Daily  Programme — Benefit  of  the  Journey. 

We  now  travel  with  the  people  of  Israel  under  their 
divinely-called  eommander  through  “  the  great  and  terri¬ 
ble  wilderness”  of  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula.  What  a  con¬ 
trast  between  the  life  and  noise  of  Cairo,  and  the  death 
and  silence  of  the  Desert ! 

And  yet  the  Desert  has  its  peculiar  charms  and  his¬ 
toric  interest.  It  was  the  school  and  playground  of 
Israel,  as  Egypt  was  its  cradle.  Tn  the  Sinaitic  Penin¬ 
sula  the  Hebrew  theocracy  was  established  ;  here  a  semi- 
barbarous  horde  of  slaves  was  trained  to  be  the  chosen 
people  of  God  ;  here  a  code  of  morals  was  proclaimed 
which  still  rules  among  the  followers  of  the  three  mono¬ 
theistic  religions ;  here  some  of  the  sublimist  literary 

Billie  Lands.  12 


134 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


works  were  composed,  the  Pentateuch,  the  ninetieth 
Psalm,  and  the  poem  of  Job,  which  will  live  as  long  as 
the  human  race.  St.  Paul  spent  three  years  in  Arabia 
preparing  himself  for  his  great  work.  The  Koran,  too, 
is  a  product  of  the  burning  sand,  and  keeps  alive  tbe 
fanaticism  of  the  followers  of  Mohammed.  The  Desert 
stimulates  deep  and  serious  meditation.  Its  immensity 
and  silence  suggest  grand  and  solemn  thoughts.  It 
makes  you  feel,  as  you  can  feel  nowhere  else,  the  pres¬ 
ence  and  power  of  God,  and  the  need  of  his  constant 
protection  and  care. 

A  dragoman,  a  waiter,  a  cook,  sixteen  Bedawin  and 
sixteen  camels  loaded  with  baggage,  chicken  and  turkey 
coops,  water-barrels,  tents,  bedding,  all  sorts  of  provis¬ 
ions,  and  a  cooking  apparatus,  form  the  caravan  for  four 
passengers.  The  journey  lasts  thirty  days  from  Suez  to 
Gaza  or  Plebron,  via  Sinai  and  Nakhl,  and  costs  each 
passenger  a  little  over  two  pounds  (^lo)  per  day.  Some 
go  only  to  Mount  Sinai  and  back  again  to  Suez,  which 
takes  three  weeks.  Others  take  the  route  to  Akabah, 
Petra,  and  the  Dead  Sea,  which  is  more  interesting,  but 
requires  from  forty  to  forty-five  days,  and  an  extra  back¬ 
sheesh  of  ten  pounds  per  person  for  permission  of  the 
Bedawin  to  pass  through  Petra.  We  could  not  take  this 
route  because  of  war  among  the  Bedawin  tribes,  and  thus 
missed  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  Gulf  of  Akabah,  the 
wonderful  rock-hewn  city  of  Petra,  and  ascending  Mount 
Hor,  where  Aaron  died. 

Let  me  first  make  you  acquainted  with  our  company. 
It  consists  of  two  American  clergymen  and  two  English 


THIRTY  DAYS  ON  THE  CAMEL. 


135 


laymen.  The  former  are  unarmed,  the  latter  carry  pis¬ 
tols.  One  of  the  Americans  is  a  teetotaller,  a  vegetarian, 
and  an  enthusiastic  botanist,  always  in  pursuit  of  rare 
plants ;  and  although  he  touches  no  wine,  no  meat,  no 
butter,  he  keeps  well  and  never  complains  of  his  diet. 
One  of  the  Englishmen,  formerly  an  officer  of  the  Royal 
Engineers,  is  silent  and  somewhat  absent-minded,  but 
well  posted  in  geography  and  geology,  kind,  courteous, 
and  amiable.  The  other  Englishman,  who  is  hardly  out 
of  his  teens,  takes  special  delight  in  natural  history,  and 
would  like  above  all  things  to  see  a  live  hyena  and  jackal. 
Ife  keeps  the  Bedawin  busy  hunting  and  bottling  snakes, 
scorpions,  chameleons,  and  lizards,  which  he  generously 
intended  to  present  to  the  museum  of  his  native  town  ; 
but  unfortunately  his  camel  broke  the  bottles  after  carry¬ 
ing  them  safely  to  the  gates  of  Gaza.  He  barely  saved 
the  horns  of  an  ibex  which  the  Bedawin  shot  on  Mount 
Sinai.  Upon  the  whole,  the  company  is  congenial,  and 
gets  along  without  a  family  quarrel,  which  is  so  apt  to 
break  up  a  miscellaneous  party  of  travellers  in  the  East. 

Our  dragoman  is  the  general  provider,  guide,  and 
interpreter,  as  the  word  indicates.*  He  is  an  indispensa¬ 
ble  necessity  in  the  East  since  the  days  of  Herodotus, 
who  employed  one  in  Egypt.  We  have  no  reason  to 
complain  of  Joseph  Tanous.  He  is  a  Maronite  Christian 
from  Lebanon,  intelligent,  courteous,  and  sober,  and 
behaved  well  till  he  got  to  Jerusalem. — He  speaks  Ara¬ 
bic,  French,  and  Italian,  but  not  a  word  of  English  or 

*  From  the  Cha}dee,  targtim,  i.  e.,  explanation,  and  targem,  to  ex¬ 
plain. 


136 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


German.  The  waiter,  Ibrahim,  is  likewise  a  Maronite, 
but  was  brought  up  in  the  Protestant  school  of  Bishop 
Gobat,  at  Jerusalem.  He  is  the  only  one  in  the  party 
with  whom  we  can  converse  in  English.  The  cook  is  an 
Italian,  and  understands  his  art  as  well  as  a  Frenchman. 
Pie  provides  us  with  good  meals,  well  prepared,  at  short 
notice. 

The  Bedawin  of  the  wilderness  are  a  semi-barbarous 
race,  without  a  history,  without  a  political  and  social 
organization,  independent,  wild,  and  warlike,  real  Ishma- 
elites,  whose  hands  are  against  every  man  and  every 
man’s  hands  against  them.  (Gen.  16:12.)  They  have  made 
no  progress  since  the  days  of  Ishmael.  They  are  broken 
up  into  various  tribes,  and  the  tribes  into  several  divis¬ 
ions.  A  sheikh  acts  as  civil  and  military  chief,  but  his 
authority  is  not  much  respected.  They  have  strong  and 
healthy  constitutions,  and  a  certain  native  courtesy  and 
dignity.  The  tribes  are  frequently  at  war  with  each 
other,  and  this  makes  travelling  sometimes  unsafe.  The 
Bedawin  of  the  east  and  northeast  of  the  Peninsula,  espe¬ 
cially  the  Alawin,  have  the  reputation  of  being  profes¬ 
sional  thieves.  Travellers  must  hire  a  band  of  these 
robbers  to  protect  them  against  their  fellow-robbers. 
Being  the  lords  of  the  wilderness,  they  claim  the  right  to 
levy  tribute  on  foreigners  passing  through  their  territory 
and  enjoying  their  protection.  Sometimes,  especially  at 
Petra,  they  ask  exorbitant  sums.  But  they  are  by  no 
means  all  thieves.  Plomicide  is  rare  among  them,  owing 
to  the  ancient  habit  of  blood-revenge,  which  requires  the 
nearest  male  relative  of  the  slain  to  kill  the  murderer  at 


THIRTY  DA  YS  ON  THE  CAMEL. 


137 

the  first  opportunity.  An  adulterer  is  shot  by  the  injured 
husband  as  soon  as  he  is  found. 

The  Towarah  tribe,  with  which  we  had  to  do,  are  per¬ 
haps  the  best  among  the  Bedawin.  They  seem  to  be 
free  from  the  lawless  and  predatory  instincts  of  their 
brethren,  owing  probably  to  their  contact  with  foreign 
travellers  and  with  a  settled  government  in  their  neigh¬ 
borhood.  They  are  partly  in  the  employ  of  the  convent 
of  Mount  Sinai,  and  accompany  the  travellers  from  Cairo 
and  back.  We  found  them  honest,  contented,  and  peace¬ 
able,  and  not  without  noble  traits  of  character.  We  be¬ 
came  quite  attached  to  them,  and  they  to  us.  Some  cried 
like  children  when  we  parted  at  Gaza.  The  Towarah  are 
very  poor ;  they  have  no  shoes,  but  rude  sandals  made 
of  fish-skin,  and  generally  walk  barefooted.  They  wear 
a  white  shirt,  with  long  open  sleeves  (which  contain  their 
valuables),  a  long  robe  of  goats’  or  camels’  hair,  and  a 
turban.  They  live  on  barley-bread,  manna,  beans,  and 
water  ;  a  cup  of  coffee  and  a  pipe  are  great  luxuries. 
Occasionally  they  slaughter  a  sheep  for  a  feast  or  for 
sacrifice.  They  carry  long  muskets  and  swords  or  dag¬ 
gers,  which  look  more  formidable  than  they  really  are. 
They  have  their  summer  and  winter  camping-grounds, 
watch  their  camels,  goats,  and  sheep,  and  cultivate  a  few 
patches  of  ground.  They  sleep  in  tents  made  of  goats’ 
hair,  or  in  caves ;  but  when  travelling  they  sleep  in  the 
open  air  with  their  cloaks  wrapped  around  them.  Women 
are  seldom  seen  ;  they  are  closely  veiled,  grind  the  mill, 
and  watch  the  flocks.  They  marry  earfy,  and  are  bought 
by  their  husbands  from  the  father  for  camels.  We  were 

12* 


138 


BIBLE  LANDS, 


told  that  the  bride  is  generally  away  in  the  mountains 
during  the  negotiation ;  when  she  first  sees  her  lover  she 
treats  him  to  stones,  but  soon  surrenders  and  is  carried 
captive  to  his  tent.  The  birth  of  a  male  child  is  hailed 
with  great  joy;  but  “girls,”  they  say,  “are  good  for 
nothing.” 

The  religion  of  the  Bedawin  amounts  to  very  little 
They  are  nominally  Mohammedans  and  polygamists,  and 
practise  circumcision  with  great  festivities,  but  are  ex¬ 
tremely  ignorant  and  superstitious.  They  have  no  forms 
of  worship  except  sacrifices  at  the  tombs  of  their  saints 
and  on  the  top  of  Jebel  Musa.  They  do  not  even  pray, 
or  very  seldom.  When  I  asked  my  guide  Musa  why  he 
never  prayed,  like  other  devout  Moslems,  he  excused 
himself  by  the  want  of  water  to  wash  the  hands,  which 
is  necessary  before  praying.  When  I  told  him  that  the 
Koran  allows  sand  in  the  desert  as  a  substitute  for  water, 
he  seemed  surprised,  as  if  he  had  never  heard  of  it.  I 
saw  him,  however,  do  homage  to  the  memory  of  a  Moslem 
saint  and  kiss  his  stony  monument.  His  opinion  about 
Jesus  was  that  he  iftajy  have  been  a  prophet,  but  Moham¬ 
med  certainly  7vas  one,  and  Allah  was  the  only  God. 
Palmer  relates  that  the  Bedawin,  on  awaking  in  the 
morning,  believe  that  the  Spirit  of  God  sits  upon  their 
right  shoulder,  and  the  devil  on  their  left,  sprinkle  them¬ 
selves  and  repeat  the  exorcising  formula,  “  I  seek  refuge 
in  God  from  Satan  accursed  with  stones.”  At  sunset 
the  same  formula  is  repeated.*  I  never  witnessed  this. 
Their  highest  idea  of  human  happiness  is  to  possess  a 

*  The  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  96. 


THIRTY  DAYS  ON  THE  CAMEL.  139 

Morocco  sword,  a  pretty  wife,  one  or  more  camels,  and 
plenty  of  tobacco. 

What  shall  be  done  with  these  children  of  the  desert  ? 
I  asked  the  monks  of  the  Convent  of  St.  Catharine  why 
they  never  made  an  attempt  to  convert  them,  or — since 
Mohammedan  law  forbids  this — at  least  to  civilize  them. 
The  answer  was,  “  They  are  a  set  of  camels,  and  care  for 
nothing  but  their  daily  food.”  But  they  have  immortal 
souls,  and  are  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Christ.  As  ne¬ 
groes  and  Indians  have  been  civilized,  why  not  they? 
The  time  will  come  when  the  saving  arm  of  Christian 
love  will  be  stretched  out  to  the  descendants  of  Ish- 
mael. 

From  the  Bedawin  we  proceed  to  their  favorite  animal 
which  carries  us  through  the  desert.  The  camel  is  an 
awkward,  ugly,  unclean,  stupid,  and  ill-tempered  animal, 
and  looks  like  personified  misery  and  discontent.  But  it 
is  truly  “the  ship  of  the  desert,”  and  admirably  adapted 
for  its  use  on  the  boundless  ocean  of  sand  from  the  Nile 
to  the  Euphrates.  It  has  needed  no  repair  since  the 
days  of  Abraham,  and  could  not  be  improved  by  any  in¬ 
vention  in  navigation.  No  horse  or  donkey  would  answer 
the  purpose.  The  camel  has  the  reputation  of  patient 
endurance  and  passive  submission,  which  some,  however, 
deny,  or  regard  as  mere  stupidity.  It  carries  the  heav¬ 
iest  burdens  on  its  single  or  double  hump,  which  is  its 
natural  pack-saddle.*  Its  very  name  means  burden- 

*  The  double-humped  Bactrian  camel  of  Central  Asia  and  Tartary  is 
rarely  seen  in  Egypt  and  the  Desert.  I  only  rode  the  one-humped  drom¬ 
edary. 


140 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


bearer.  It  can  travel  five  (some  say  nine  or  even  fifteen) 
days  in  scorching  heat  without  water,  and  resort  to  its 
inside  tank  or  cistern,  which,  at  the  sacrifice  of  its  own 
life,  has  saved  the  life  of  many  a  traveller.  It  lives  on 
barley,  dry  beans,  and  chopped  straw  while  in  camp,  and 
on  the  prickly  thistles  and  thorns  of  the  wilderness, 
which,  much  to  the  annoyance  of  the  rider,  it  snatches 
from  the  wayside  and  leisurely  chews  as  a  positive  lux¬ 
ury.  It  supplies  its  master  with  milk,  fuel,  sandals,  and 
garments  ;  and  having  done  its  duty,  it  leaves  its  bleach¬ 
ed  skeleton  in  the  arid  waste  as  a  landmark  to  future 
travellers.  With  peculiar  gurgling  growls  or  sighs  of 
protest,  unlike  the  sounds  of  any  other  animal,  the  camel 
goes  down  on  its  knees  in  four  distinct  motions,  till  it 
lies  on  its  belly ;  growling  it  receives  its  burden  ;  growl¬ 
ing  it  gets  up  by  several  jerks,  first  on  the  hind-legs, 
then  on  the  front-legs,  so  that  the  rider  is  violently 
pitched  forward  and  then  as  violently  jerked  backward, 
and  must  hold  fast  to  the  saddle  or  be  thrown  down  on 
the  sand.  Once  started,  the  beast  moves  with  long 
strides  on  its  soft,  spongy  feet  steadily  and  noiselessly 
forward  as  under  a  painful  sense  of  duty,  but  without  the 
least  interest  in  the  rider.  A  primitive  wooden  frame 
serves  as  saddle,  and  the  mattress  or  pillow  on  which  we 
sleep  at  night  is  thrown  over  it  as  a  seat.  The  swinging 
motion  high  in  the  air  is  disagreeable  and  makes  us  a 
little  seasick,  but  we  gradually  get  used  to  it.  To  break 
the  monotony  and  the  fatigue  we  change  our  position, 
now  riding  as  on  horseback,  now  crossing  the  legs  like 
the  Arabs,  now  sitting  on  one  side  and  then  on  the  other. 


THIRTY  DAYS  ON  THE  CAMEL. 


141 

I  parted  with  the  “Djemel”  at  Gaza  not  without  a  cer¬ 
tain  admiration  and  respect,  and  yet  I  was  glad  to  ex¬ 
change  it  for  the  noble,  spirited,  and  dashing  horse.  The 
Bible  mentions  the  camel  only  incidentally,  though  in  a 
way  that  implies  its  great  usefulness ;  while  the  horse  is 
described  with  glowing  colors  and  honored  with  eloquent 
eulogy  (Job  39:  19-25).* 

*  Miss  Harriet  Martineau  was  unfortunate  in  her  experience  with  the 
camel.  “Nothing  can  be  uglier,”  she  says,  “unless  it  be  the  ostrich, 
which  is  ludicrously  like  the  camel  in  form,  gait,  and  expression  of  face. 
The  patience  of  the  camel,  so  celebrated  in  books,  is  what  I  never  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing.  So  impatient  a  beast  I  do  not  know — growling, 
groaning,  and  fretting  whenever  asked  to  do  or  bear  anything,  looking  as 
if  it  longed  to  bite,  if  only  it  dared.  Its  malignant  expression  of  face  is 
lost  in  pictures,  but  it  may  be  seen  whenever  one  looks  for  it.  The  min¬ 
gled  expression  of  spite,  fear,  and  hopelessness,  in  the  face  of  the  camel 
always  gave  me  the  impression  of  its  being,  or  feeling  itself,  a  damned 
animal.  I  wonder  some  of  the  old  painters  of  hell  did  not  put  a  camel 
into  their  foreground,  and  make  a  traditional  emblem  of  it.  It  is  true  the 
Arab  loves  his  own  camel,  kisses  its  lips,  hugs  its  neck,  calls  it  his  darling 
and  his  jewel,  and  declares  he  loves  it  exactly  as  he  loves  his  eldest  son; 
but  it  does  not  appear  that  any  man’s  affection  extends  beyond  his  own 
particular  camel,  which  is  truly  for  its  services  an  inestimable  treasure  to 
him.  He  is  moved  to  kick  and  curse  at  any  but  the  domestic  member  of 
the  species,  as  he  would  be  by  the  perverseness  and  spite  of  any  other 
ill-tempered  creature.  The  one  virtue  of  the  camel  is  its  ability  to  work 
without  water;  but,  out  of  the  Desert,  I  hardly  think  that  any  rider  would 
exchange  the  willing,  intelligent,  and  proud  service  of  the  horse  for  that 
of  the  camel,  which  objects  to  everything,  and  will  do  no  service  but  under 
the  compulsion  of  its  own  fears.”  Easterji  Life,  new  ed.,  London,  p.  5. 
Palgrave,  in  his  Journey  through  Central  and  Eastern  Arabia  (London, 
1873,  p.  25),  is  equally  severe  on  the  camel,  and  makes  stupidity,  indiffer¬ 
ence,  and  passion  for  revenge  its  prominent  characteristics.  He  relates 
that  a  camel  having  been  beaten  by  a  boy,  a  few  days  afterwards,  when 
nobody  was  in  sight,  seized  his  head,  lifted  him  up  in  the  air,  and  flung 
him  down  again  on  the  earth  with  the  upper  part  of  his  skull  completely 
torn  off  and  his  brains  scattered  on  the  ground.  Having  thus  satisfied  its 
revenge,  the  brute  quietly  resumed  its  pace  as  though  nothing  were  the 
matter.  “  The  camel,”  he  says,  “  is  from  first  to  last  an  undomesticated 


142 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


The  programme  of  travel  is  the  same  for  thirty  or 
forty  days.  Before  sunrise  the  camels  begin  to  growl 
and  the  Bedawin  to  quarrel  about  the  baggage.  We 
get  up ;  offer  our  prayers,  eat  our  breakfast,  consisting 
of  coffee,  bread  and  butter,  and  omelette  or  boiled  eggs, 
while  the  tents  are  taken  down,  and  the  camels  loaded 
amid  much  noise  and  clamor ;  we  take  a  morning  walk 
or  at  once  mount  our  beast.  At  noon  we  stop  for  lunch 
and  enjoy  an  hour’s  rest,  lying  under  the  shadow  of  a 
rock  or  the  umbrella,  or  like  Elijah  under  a  juniper-bush, 
or  a  tree  of  shittim-wood — of  which  the  ark  was  built.  If 
there  is  no  natural  shelter  within  reach,  the  dragoman 
spreads  a  small  tent  to  protect  us  against  the  scorching 
heat.  Then  another  ride  of  two  or  three  hours  till  in 
the  distance  we  see  the  white  tents  which  have  been 
erected  by  the  Bedawin  in  charge  of  the  baggage  camels, 
two  for  the  four  passengers,  one  for  the  dragoman  and 
cook.  It  is  a  delightful  sight,  after  a  weary  ride  of  seven 
or  eight  hours  over  a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles  of  sand 
and  rock. 

Then  begins  the  enjoyable  part  of  the  day.  We 
throw  ourselves  down  upon  the  iron  bedstead,  for  it  is 
the  only  place  where  we  can  stretch  our  limbs  and  rest 
our  backs.  In  about  half  an  hour  the  bell  rings  for  din¬ 
ner,  and  it  tastes  as  good  as  on  any  table  d'hote  in  Europe. 
Hunger  is  the  best  cook.  We  get  soup,  two  courses  of 
meat,  eggs,  potatoes,  rice  and  beans,  nuts,  and  an  ever- 

and  savage  animal,  rendered  serviceable  by  stupidity  alone,  without  much 
skill  on  his  master’s  part  or  any  cooperation  on  his  own,  save  that  of  an 
extreme  passiveness.  Neither  attachment  nor  even  habit  impresses  him; 
never  tame,  though  not  wide  awake  enough  to  be  exactly  wild.” 


THIRTY  DAYS  ON  THE  CAMEL. 


143 


welcome  orange  for  dessert,  with  a  cup  of  tea.  But  the 
bread  becomes  stale,  the  water  insipid,  the  orange  dry, 
and  the  chickens  and  eggs  give  out  as  we  approach  the 
end  of  the  journey.  After  dinner  we  fill  up  our  journal, 
study  the  map,  read  the  Bihle  and  guide-book,  and  then 
go  to  bed.  The  Bedawin  with  the  camels  lie  a  few  yards 
from  us  encamped  on  the  ground  around  a  fire  and  watch 
our  tents.  They  smoke  and  chat  and  quarrel  till  all  fall 
asleep  under  the  bright  stars. 

A  journey  through  the  wilderness  is  no  pleasure  trip. 
It  costs  more  for  discomforts  than  we  pay  for  comforts  in 
civilized  lands.  The  romance  of  camp-life  among  the  wild 
Bedawin  lies  in  anticipation,  and  reminiscence,  rather 
than  actual  experience.  The  intense  heat,  the  vile  in¬ 
sects,  the  growling  of  camels,  the  barbarous  habits  of  the 
Arabs,  the  occasional  sand-storms,  and  the  many  inevita¬ 
ble  inconveniences,  take  away  the  rainbow  color  from  the 
poetry.  The  journey  is  a  weariness  to  the  flesh  from 
beginning  to  end,  and  ought  not  to  be  attempted  except 
by  persons  of  vigorous  constitution. 

And  yet  it  impresses  itself  more  deeply  on  the  mem¬ 
ory  than  most  parts  of  an  Eastern  journey.  It  is  instruc¬ 
tive  to  the  geologist,  the  botanist,  the  archaeologist,  and 
the  Biblical  student.  It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  pass  over 
the  route  of  the  Israelites  on  their  way  to  the  land  of 
promise,  and  to  ascend  the  mount  from  which  God  made 
his  greatest  revelation  before  the  coming  of  Christ.  It 
brings  the  early  Bible  history  nearer  and  makes  it  clearer 
to  us.  It  imparts  a  life  and  reality  to  the  books  of  Exo¬ 
dus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  and  Deuteronomy,  which  they 


144 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


never  had  before.  It  enables  us  to  understand  and  ap¬ 
preciate  the  trials  and  sufferings,  the  murmurings  and 
ingratitude  of  the  Israelites,  and  the  greatness,  the  pa¬ 
tience  and  endurance  of  Moses.  Many  objections  of 
modern  skeptics  against  the  truthfulness  of  the  Penta¬ 
teuch  are  at  once  removed  by  a  knowledge  of  the  geog¬ 
raphy  and  the  mode  of  life  among  the  present  Arabs. 
The  frequent  Scripture  allusions  to  the  refreshing  foun¬ 
tains  of  the  Desert,  the  palm-tree,  the  shadow  of  a  rock, 
the  manna,  receive  new  force.  No  man  can  encamp  at 
‘Ayun-Musa,  Wady  Ghurundel,  and  Wady  Taiyibeh,  with¬ 
out  reading  with  a  peculiar  sensation  even  the  simple 
words,  “And  they  came  to*Elim,  where  were  twelve  wells 
of  water  and  threescore  and  ten  palm-trees;  and  they 
encamped  there  by  the  waters.”  Ex.  15  127. 

And  what  is  Christian  life,  after  all,  but  a  repetition  on 
a  higher  key  of  the  story  of  Israel :  a  deliverance  from 
the  bondage  of  sin  and  death,  and  a  passage  through  the 
desert  and  over  the  Jordan  to  our  heavenly  home  of  rest 
and  peace. 


tmUlntj*  £  .‘>2’  of  frrKJitvi/'Ji 


.1 


4 


THE  GREAT  WILDERNESS. 


145 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  GREAT  WILDERNESS. 

Shape  and  Extent  of  the  Peninsula — Its  Mineral 
Wealth — Job’s  Allusion  to  the  Mines — Dreary  As¬ 
pect  of  the  Desert — An  Ocean  of  Sand  and  Gravel 
— Oases  — Wadys  —  The  Mountain  Ranges  —  The 
Alps  of  the  Desert — The  Former  and  the  Present 
Condition  of  the  Desert. 

The  Sinaitic  Peninsula  is  a  triangle  bordered  by  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  and  the  two  arms  of  the  Red  Sea,  the 
Gulf  of  Suez  and  the  Gulf  of  ’Akabah.  It  covers  an  area 
of  11,600  square  miles;  the  base  measuring  nearly  150 
miles,  and  the  sides  of  the  triangle  190  and  130  miles 
respectively.* 

It  consists  of  broad,  undulating  plains,  narrow  valleys', 
dry  river-beds,  isolated  mountains,  and  precipitous  rocks 
of  limestone  and  granite,  with  fantastic  shapes  and  gor¬ 
geous  coloring.  It  is  rich  in  mineral  wealth  of  iron,  cop¬ 
per,  and  turquoise,  so  that  the  Egyptians  called  it  “  Maf- 
kat,”  i.  e.,  Land  of  Copper  or  Turquoise.  These  mines 
are  now  neglected,  but  were  once  worked  on  a  large  scale 
by  the  ancient  Egyptians,  especially  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Serabit  el  Khadim  and  Magharah,  where  hieroglyphic 
tablets  still  record  the  names  and  titles  of  the  kings. f 

*  E.  H.  Palmer,  The  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  17. 
t  See  Dr.  Brugsch,  Wanderting  nach  den  Turkisminen  der  Sinai-Halb- 
insel,  Leipzig,  1868.  Also  the  graphic  description  of  Dr.  Ebers,  in  Uarda, 
Bible  T.ands.  13 


146 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


The  Bible  also  contains  an  allusion  to  these  mines  in 
the  highly  poetic  description  of  Job  (ch.  28  ;  i-ii) : 

“Yes,  truly,  for  the  silver  there’s  a  vein, 

A  place  for  gold  which  they  refine. 

The  iron  from  the  dust  is  brought, 

And  copper  from  the  molten  ore. 

To  (nature’s)  darkness  man  is  setting  bounds  ; 

Unto  the  end  he  searcheth  ever3'thing — 

The  stones  of  darkness  and  the  shade  of  death. 

Breaks  from  the  settler’s  view  the  deep  ravine; 

And  there,  forgotten  of  the  foot-worn  path. 

They  let  them  down — from  men  they  roam  afar. 

Earth’s  surface  (they  explore)  whence  comes  forth  bread — 
Its  lowest  depths,  where  it  seems  turned  to  fire ; 

Its  stones  the  place  of  sapphire  gems. 

Where  lie  the  glebes  of  gold. 

A  path  the  bird  of  prey  hath  never  known. 

Nor  on  it  glanced  the  vulture’s  piercing  sight. 

Where  the  wild  beast  hath  never  trod. 

Nor  roaring  jackal  ever  passed  it  by. 

Against  the  granite  sends  he  forth  his  hand ; 

He  overturns  the  mountains  from  their  base. 

He  cutteth  channels  in  the  rocks; 

His  eye  beholdeth  every  precious  thing. 

From  weeping  bindeth  he  the  streams. 

The  deeply  hidden  brings  he  forth  to  light.”* 

The  general  aspect  of  the  Peninsula  is  barren,  deso¬ 
late,  and  dreary.  It  is. an  ocean  of  sand,  hard  gravel, 
and  rock,  but  covered  more  or  less  with  thorns  and  fra¬ 
grant  herbs,  on  which  the  camels  feed,  and  broken  here 
and  there  by  oases,  romantic  valleys,  and  lofty  moun- 

A  Romance  of  Ancient  Egj'pf,  ch.  34  (Engl,  translation,  ed.  Tauchnitz, 
Vol.  II.,  p.  156). 

*  Translation  by  Tayler  Lewis,  in  the  American  edition  of  Lange,  p. 
1 16. 


THE  GREAT  WILDERNESS. 


i47 

tains.  Every  now  and  then  you  see  a  few  camels,  a  herd 
of  goats,  a  rude  tent,  and  some  roaming  Bedawin,  but 
no  village,  no  sign  of  civilization,  and  no  dwelling  fit  to 
live  in  except  the  convent  of  Mount  Sinai. 

The  Wadys — a  name  of  constant  occurrence  in  the 
Desert — are  dry  water-courses,  sometimes  very  broad, 
which  in  the  rainy  season  receive  the  torrents  from  the 
mountains,  and  carry  them  to  the  sea  (compare  Psalm 
68 : 7-9).  But  the  rainfall  is  rare,  and  evaporation  so 
rapid,  that  in  a  few  minutes  the  ground  is  dry  and  thirsty 
again.  During  the  whole  month  of  March  I  saw  not  a 
drop  of  rain,  while  other  travellers  in  the  same  season 
were  overtaken  by  thunderstorms  on  Mount  Sinai.  We 
may  travel  for  days  without  a  drop  of  water  from  the 
sky  above  or  the  earth  beneath ;  but  occasionally  we  are 
surprised  by  fountains  and  little  rivulets,  and  alongside 
of  them  are  small  tracts  of  tropical  vegetation,  with 
palm-trees,  acacias,  tamarisks,  juniper-trees,  and  shittim- 
wood. 

These  oases  are  most  delightful  and  refreshing  to  the 
weary  traveller.  They  are  found  chiefly  in  the  granite 
region,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Serbal  and  Sinai.  The 
narrow  Wady  Feiran,  where  water  and  vegetation  abound, 
is  the  most  beautiful  and  attractive  oasis  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness.  The  monks  of  St.  Catharine  avail  themselves  of 
every  little  stream  to  plant  gardens  of  vegetables,  olive- 
trees,  peach,  and  apricot. 

The  principal  mountain  groups  are  (i)  the  northwest¬ 
ern  cluster  above  Wady  Feiran,  with  Serbal  as  its  king  ; 
(2)  the  eastern  or  central  cluster,  of  which  Mount  Catha- 


148 


BIBLE  LANDS 


rine  is  the  highest,  but  Mount  Sinai  the  most  remarkable 
in  the  whole  Peninsula  ;  the  southeastern  cluster,  com¬ 
manded  by  Umm  Schomer.  Mount  Sinai  is  most  famil¬ 
iar  and  most  frequently  ascended.  Mount  Serbal  is  very 
difficult  of  ascent,  and  rarely  ascended.  Umm  Schomer 
has  only  been  once  or  twice  ascended,  first  by  Burckhardt 
(though  only  in  part),  and  a  few  years  ago  (1869)  by  the 
party  of  the  English  Ordnance-Survey  Expedition.  It 
was  formerly  regarded  as  the  highest  mountain  of  the 
Desert,  but  according  to  the  measurements  of  the  Ord¬ 
nance  Survey  it  is  lower  than  Mount  Catharine. 

The  mountains  of  the  Desert  are  “the  Alps  un¬ 
clothed,”  or  the  naked  Alps.  They  are  less  varied  and 
attractive  than  the  Swiss  Alps,  being  denuded  of  ver¬ 
dure,  forest,  meadows,  snow,  and  glaciers  ;  but  in  terri¬ 
ble  grandeur  and  sublimity  they  equal  Mont  Blanc,  the 
Matterhorn,  and  the  Jungfrau.  Their  isolation  makes 
them  appear  greater  than  they  are.  “Nature  seems  here 
to  show,”  says  Professor  E.  H.  Palmer,  “  that  in  her  most 
barren  and  uninviting  moods  she  can  be  exquisitely  beau¬ 
tiful  still.” 

In  the  time  of  the  Exodus,  when  the  Peninsula  con¬ 
tained  a  considerable  population  and  large  colonies  of 
Egyptian  miners,  it  was  no  doubt  better  supplied  with 
water,  wood,  and  vegetation  than  now.  This  lessens  the 
difficulty  connected  with  the  forty  years’  wanderings  of 
the  Israelites.  Yet,  considering  their  large  number,  it 
is  quite  necessary  to  take  into  account  the  supernatural 
supply  of  food  and  water  as  recorded  in  the  sacred  narra¬ 
tive.  At  present  the  Peninsula  is  utterly  neglected  and 


THE  GREAT  WILDERNESS. 


149 


barely  able  to  support  a  few  thousand  roaming  Bedawin, 
with  their  camels,  sheep,  and  goats.  But  the  time  may 
come  when  railroads  will  connect  Egypt  with  Syria,  and 
when,  under  a  good  government  and  with  an  industrious 
population,  parts  of  the  Desert  may  be  made  to  “  bloom 
like  a  garden.” 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


ISO 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

'AYUN  MUSA  AND  THE  EXODUS. 

In  the  Wilderness  —  A  Restful  Day —  Ayun  Musa— 
’Twixt  Two  Continents— Date-Palms  and  Tam¬ 
arisks— A  Noted  Spot— The  Exodus  and  Route  of 
the  Israelites— Three  Theories  —  The  Traditional 
Theory — Robinson’s  Theory — Brugseh’s  Theory — 
The  Hebrew  Te  Deum. 

Ayun  Musa,  or  the  Wells  of  Moses,  about  seven 
miles  southeast  of  Suez,  is  the  first  station  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness  on  the  route  to  Sinai.  We  reach  the  city  of  Suez 
by  railroad  from  Cairo,  through  the  land  of  Goshen,  via 
Zigazig  and  Ismailia,  in  a  day’s  journey,  and  there  we 
meet  our  dragoman  and  the  caravan  which  started  two 
days  before  directly  through  the  Egyptian  desert.  We 
spend  a  night  and  half  a  day  at  Suez  in  a  large  hotel, 
served  by  silent  Indian  waiters  ;  we  watch  the  East 
India  ships  and  the  strong  tide  ;  we  chat  with  some  Eng¬ 
lish  officers  ;  we  wander  on  the  shore  and  through  the 
town,  and  then  bid  farewell  to  Egypt  and  Africa.  Our 
first  and  last  thought  in  this  lonely  place,  which  is  sim¬ 
ply  a  halfway  house  to  India,  is  of  the  Exodus  of  the 
Israelites. 

We  leave  Suez  by  boat  (on  Saturday  noon,  March  3) 
For  the  Asiatic  shore,  while  the  camels  and  luggage  are 
sent  on  the  longer  land  route,  round  the  head  of  the 
2:ulf.  We  are  carried  over  the  shallow  waters  on  the 


AYUN  MUSA  AND  THE  EXODUS.  15 1 


shoulders  of  stout  Arabs,  mount  the  ship  of  the  desert 
ready  to  receive  its  burden,  and  after  a  ride  of  about  two 
hours  we  reach  the  tents  before  dark,  to  rest  for  the 
night  and  for  the  following  day,  our  first  Sabbath  in  the 
wilderness. 

And  oh  how  welcome  the  sweet  day  of  I'est  in  the 
unbroken  silence  of  the  great  wilderness !  And  doubly 
welcome  was  every  one  of  the  four  that  followed,  after  a 
week’s  weary  ride  over  the  arid  sand,  under  the  scorch¬ 
ing  sun  of  Arabia.  I  thought  I  was  sound  on  the  Sab¬ 
bath  question,  but  I  confess,  never  before  did  I  feel  so 
deeply  the  benevolent  design  of  this  primitive  institu¬ 
tion,  which,  like  the  family,  dates  from  Paradise,  and  was 
proclaimed  anew  from  Mount  Sinai  among  the  ten  fun¬ 
damental  commandments,  for  the  physical  and  spiritual 
benefit  of  man.  Our  whole  party  looked  forward  to  the 
day  of  rest  as  a  necessity  and  a  blessing  for  man  and 
beast.  The  camels  need  it,  and  man  needs  it  to  rest  his 
body  and  to  refresh  his  soul.  And  what  can  be  more 
refreshing  than  to  meditate  on  things  invisible  and  eter¬ 
nal,  to  commune  with  God,  to  read  the  good  Book,  and 
to  sing  the  sweet  songs  of  Zion  in  the  lonely  tent  or  un¬ 
der  the  canopy  of  heaven  }  I  find  that  Dr.  Robinson  had 
the  same  experience  of  the  peculiar  charm  of  a  Sabbath 
in  the  desert. 

Ayun  Musa  is  a  green  oasis  in  the  sandy  desert  and 
a  most  interesting  and  welcome  place  of  rest  and  medita¬ 
tion.  Here  is  the  boundary  between  two  continents, 
which  confront  each  other  like  two  giants  in  majestic 
repose.  Two  miles  off  is  the  river-like  sea  so  famous  in 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


152 

nistory,  and  beyond  it,  on  African  soil,  towers  the  silvery 
mountain  of  Atakah.  There  are  at  Ayun  Musa  five 
vegetable  gardens,  with  a  dozen  or  more  springs  of  water 
(Robinson  counted  seven,  Porter  mentions  more  than 
twelve,  Stanley  seventeen),  a  few  Arab  huts,  lofty  date- 
palms,  and  tamarisks.  We  are  strongly  reminded  of 
Elim  (Exod.  1 5  ;  27) ;  but  this  must  be  farther  off,  as  Moses 
wandered  three  days  after  crossing  till  he  reached  Elim 
(ver.  22).  Close  by  the  oasis  is  a  sand-hill,  with  a  soli¬ 
tary  palm-tree  and  a  fountain  of  brackish  water.  We 
walked  along  the  seashore,  gathered  rare  and  beautiful 
shells,  took  a  refreshing  bath,  and  mused  over  the  potent 
memories  of  the  past.  The  color  of  the  water  is  bluish- 
green,  and  the  “  Red  ”  Sea  has  its  name  from  the  red 
sand  on  the  shore.  The  Hebrews  and  Egyptians  called 
it  the  Sea  of  Weeds  or  the  Sea  of  Reeds.  “  Every  step,” 
we  say  with  Ebers,  “reminds  us  here  of  the  Bible,  and 
we  understand  it  better  and  better.” 

In  this  neighborhood  is  the  traditional  locality  of  one 
of  the  greatest  events  in  ancient  history,  which  left  its 
mark  upon  all  subsequent  ages.  Here  Moses  refreshed 
and  rested  his  people  after  crossing  the  Red  Sea.  Here 
he  sung  with  Miriam  and  the  children  of  Israel  the  Song 
of  Deliverance  (Exod.  15  : 1-19). 

THE  EXODUS  OF  THE  ISRAELITES. 

The  Scripture  data  about  the  Exodus  are  as  follows  : 

The  Israelites  started  from  Rameses  and  proceeded 
to  Succoth  (Exod.  12:37);  thence  to  Etham  “in  the 
edge  of  the  wilderness”  (13:20);  here  they  were  to 


AY  UN  MUSA  AND  THE  EXODUS. 


J53 


“  turn  and  encamp  before  Pi-hahiroth,  between  Migdol 
and  the  sea,  over  against  Baal-Zephon  ”  (14:2).  With 
these  notices  must  be  compared  the  list  of  camping  sta¬ 
tions  which  Moses  wrote  down  by  the  commandment  of 
the  Lord,  Num.  33:2-10;  “These  are  their  journeys 
according  to  their  goings  out.  And  they  journeyed  from 
Rameses  in  the  first  month,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the 

first  month .  And  the  children  of  Israel  journeyed 

from  Rameses,  and  pitched  in  Succoth.  And  they 
journeyed  from  Succoth,  and  pitched  in  Etham,  which  is 
in  the  edge  of  the  wilderness.  And  they  journeyed  from 
Etham,  and  turned  back  unto  Pi-hahiroth,  which  is  before 
Baal-Zephon :  and  they  pitched  before  Migdol.  And 
they  journeyed  from  before  Hahiroth  (or,  from  Peiieha- 


154 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


hiroth),  and  passed  through  the  midst  of  the  sea  into  the 
wilderness ;  and  they  went  three  days’  journey  in  the 
wilderness  of  Etham,  and  pitched  in  Marah.  And  they 
journeyed  from  Marah  and  came  unto  Elim  :  and  in  Elim 
were  twelve  fountains  of  water,  and  threescore  and  ten 
palm-trees :  and  they  pitched  there.  And  they  journeyed 
from  Elim  and  pitched  by  the  Red  Sea.” 

When  the  Egyptians  came  upon  the  track  of  the 
Israelites  they  said,  “  They  are  entangled  in  the  land,  the 
wilderness  hath  shut  them  in”  (Ex.  14:3),  or  rather, 
“the  wilderness  is  closed  against  them,”  i.  e.,  the  Israel¬ 
ites  have  no  egress  from  Egypt ;  they  must  either  return 
or  cross  the  sea.  Moses  intended  to  go  by  the  way  of 
the  wilderness,  but  when  he  turned  southward  by  Divine 
command,  he  was  shut  in  by  the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea 
which  then  probably  extended  farther  north  to  the 
Bitter  Lakes.  This  indicates  the  general  locality  of  the 
Exodus  and  seems  conclusive  against  Brugsch’s  theory. 
(See  below.) 

As  to  the  particular  locality  of  these  stations  before 
the  arrival  of  the  Israelites  at  the  Red  Sea  there  is  con¬ 
siderable  uncertainty.  Raineses,  the  place  of  general 
rendezvous — where  the  Israelites  must  have  been  very 
numerous,  since  they  built  or  enlarged  that  city — may  be 
identified,  as  Dr.  Brugsch  does,  with  Zoan  (Tanis),  where 
Moses  performed  his  miracles,  or  be  placed  farther  south 
on  the  old  canal  which  connected  the  Nile  with  the  Red 
Sea.  Succoth  must  have  been  halfway  between  Rameses 
and  Etham.  It  is  usually  derived  from  the  Hebrew  word 
which  means  booths,  shepherd’s  camp;  but  Ebers  con- 


AYUN  MUSA  AND  THE  EXODUS.  155 


nects  it  with  an  Egyptian  town  Sechet  (Fields).*  Etham 
was  probably  the  same  with  Pithom  (Pi-tum),  and  the 
frontier  city  towards  the  wilderness,  between  Lake 
Timsah  and  the  Bitter  Lakes,  where  the  route  to  Pales¬ 
tine  branches  off.  Pi-hahiroth,  an  Egyptian  word,  is 
usually  identified  with  Ajrud  or  Agrud,  a  fortress  on  the 
way  from  Etham  to  Suez.  Migdol,  i.  e.,  Tower  or  Fort, 
is  supposed  to  be  Bir  Suweis,  about  two  miles  from  Suez. 
Baal-Zephon  must  have  been  likewise  near  Suez  or 
Kolzum,  perhaps  it  is  identical  with  Mount  Atakah.f 
Baal  was  the  chief  deity  of  the  Phoenicians,  who  had  at 
a  very  ancient  period  a  settlement  in  lower  Egypt. 

The  miraculous  passage  itself  is  thus  recorded  in 
Exodus  14:21,  22:  “And  Moses  stretched  out  his  hand 
over  the  sea;  and  Jehovah  caused  the  sea  to  go  back  by 
a  strong  east  wind  all  the  night,  and  made  the  sea  dry 
land,  and  the  waters  were  divided.  And  the  children  of 
Israel  went  into  the  midst  of  the  sea  upon  the  dry 
ground :  and  the  waters  were  a  wall  unto  them  on  their 
right  hand  and  on  their  left.” 

There  are  three  or  four  theories  about  the  locality 
and  mode  of  the  Exodus  : 

I.  The  Arab  tradition  locates  the  Exodus  several 
miles  south  of  Suez,  between  the  promontory  of  Atakah 
and  the  opposite  shore  of  Ayun  Musa,  where  the  Red 
Sea  is  about  ten  miles  (Robinson  says  twelve  miles, 

*  Ditrch  Gosen  zum  Sittai,  p.  506. 

t  This  is  the  view  of  Dr.  Ebers  (p.  510,  sq.)  who  assumes  that  there 
was  a  sanctuary  of  Baal  on  the  top  of  Atakah.  Dr.  Brugsch  on  the  con¬ 
trary  identities  Baal-Zephon  with  Mount  Casius  on  the  shore  of  the  Med¬ 
iterranean.  (See  below.) 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


155 

Porter  seven  miles)  broad.  This  view  seems  to  accord 
best  with  a  literal  meaning  of  the  narrative,  that  the 
waters  were  divided  and  stood  up  like  a  wall  or  like 
entrenchments  on  both  sides  of  the  passing  army.  But 
it  is  impossible  that  600,000  armed  men  with  women  and 
children,  and  their  herds  of  cattle,  could  have  crossed 
such  a  distance  in  one  night,  without  a  prodigious  accu¬ 
mulation  of  miracles.  And  would  the  Egyptians  have 
dared  to  follow  the  Israelites  through  the  deep  sea,  and 
in  view  of  such  an  amazing  and  overpowering  interposi¬ 
tion  of  God  t  Could  the  east  wind  or  any  wind  have  such 
an  effect  on  the  sea  so  wide  as  it  is  here  ?  And  if  not, 
why  is  it  mentioned  at  all  as  an  agent. ^ 

2.  That  the  event  occurred  at  the  head  of  the  gulf,  near 
or  some  distance  north  of  Suez.  The  gulf  has  the  shape 
of  a  horn,  and  is  a  shallow  channel  less  than  a  mile  wide 
and  about  four  miles  long,  running  from  north  to  south. 
In  it  are  several  small  islands  and  sandbanks,  bare  when 
the  water  is  low.  (See  J.  L.  Porter’s  Handbook.)  It 
may  have  extended  as  a  reedy  marsh  considerably  farther 
north,  perhaps  as  far  as  the  Bitter  Lakes.  The  crossing 
took  place  during  the  time  of  an  extraordinary  ebb,  which 
was  hastened  and  extended  by  a  continuous  night  storm 
blowing  from  the  east  (northeast)  against  the  water, 
and  laid  bare  the  whole  ford  for  the  passage  of  the  Israel¬ 
ites  ;  after  which  the  sea,  in  its  reflux,  returned  with 
double  the  usual  power  of  the  flood  tide,  and  overwhelm¬ 
ed  Pharaoh’s  army.  In  ordinary  times,  many  a  caravan 
crossed  the  ford  at  the  head  of  the  gulf  at  low  ebb  before 
the  Suez  Canal  was  built ;  and  Napoleon,  deceived  by 


AYUN  MUSA  AND  THE  EXODUS.  157 


the  tidal  wave,  attempted  to  cross  it  on  returning  from 
‘Ayun  Musa  in  1799,  and  nearly  met  the  fate  of  Pharaoh. 
But  an  army  of  600,000  could,  of  course,  never  have 
crossed  it  without  a  miracle.  The  question  is  only 
whether  the  miracle  was  immediate  or  mediate;  in  other 
words,  whether  God  suspended  the  laws  of  nature,  or 
whether  he  used  them  as  agencies  both  for  the  salvation 
of  his  people  and  for  the  overthrow  of  his  enemies.  The 
express  mention  of  the  “strong  east  wind”  which  Jeho¬ 
vah  caused  to  blow  “all  the  night”  decidedly  favors  the 
latter  view,  which  is  also  supported  by  an  examination  of 
the  spot.  The  tide  at  Suez,  which  I  watched  from  the 
top  of  the  Suez  Hotel,  is  very  strong  and  rapid,  especially 
under  the  action  of  the  northeast  wind.*  This  wind  often 
prevails  there  and  acts  powerfully  on  the  ebb  tide,  dri¬ 
ving  out  the  waters  from  the  small  arm  of  the  sea  which 
runs  up  by  Suez,  while  the  more  northern  part  of  the 
arm  would  still  remain  covered  with  water,  so  that  the 
waters  on  both  sides  served  as  walls  of  defence  or  en¬ 
trenchments  to  the  passing  army  of  Israel.  In  no  other 
part  of  the  gulf  would  the  east  wind  have  the  effect  of 
driving  out  the  water.  Dr.  Robinson  calls  the  miracle 
a  “  miraculous  adaptation  of  the  laws  of  nature  to  pro¬ 
duce  a  required  result.”  The  same  view  is  adopted 
by  other  modern  scholars.  It  does  not  diminish  the 
miracle,  but  only  adapts  it  to  the  locality  and  the  natural 

*■  Dr.  Ebers  says  (p.  loi),  einem  starken  Nordostwinde,  der  nicht 

selten  weht,  werden  die  Welle7i  nach  Siiden  zu  in  den  schmalen  Meerbusen 
geradezu  hineingepeitscht,  so  zwar,  dass  die  m  horizontaler  Linie  nordlich  von 
Suez  sick  hinstrecke7iden  vier  Inseht  fiur  durch  Lache7t  getrennt  zu  sein 
soheine7i,  jedoch  thatsachlich  durch  tiefe  lVassergrabe7^  V07i  dem  Festlande 
U7id  von  emander  geschiede/t  si/id.’’’’ 


liihlc  Lands. 


14 


158  BIBLE  LANDS. 

agency  which  is  exi^ressly  mentioned  by  the  Bible 
narrative.* 

3.  The  least  satisfactory  theory  is  that  recently  elab¬ 
orated  by  Dr.  Brugsch.  He  locates  the  Exodus  farther 
north,  on  the  usual  route  from  Egypt  to  Syria,  between 
the  Mediterranean  Sea  and  the  Sirbonian  Lake,  east  of 
Port  Said.  This  lake  was  a  long  and  narrow  sheet  of 
water,  now  filled  with  sand,  but  well  known  to  the  ancients, 
and  is  described  by  Diodorus  as  being  overgrown  with 
seaweeds  and  papyrus,  so  as  to  deceive  travellers,  who 
might  easily  mistake  the  surface  for  dry  land,  and  perish 
in  it.  The  Israelites  passed  safely  over  the  narrow  strip 
of  land  between  the  waters  of  the  sea  and  the  waters  of 
the  lake,  and  then  suddenly  turned,  by  divine  command, 
southward,  and  arrived  in  three  days  at  Marah — i.  e.,  the 


*  I  will  also  quote  from  Prof.  E.  H.  Palmer,  The  Desert  of  the  Exodus 
(1871),  Vol.  L,  p.  36:  “  From  the  narrative  in  Exodus  14,  it  would  seem 

that  the  Egyptians  came  upon  them  before  they  had  rounded  the  head  of 
the  Gulf,  so  as  to  compel  them  either  to  take  to  the  water  or  fall  into 
their  enemies’  hands,  equally  fatal  alternatives,  from  which  nothing  but  a 
miracle,  such  as  that  recorded,  could  have  saved  them.  But  natural 
agencies,  miraculously  accelerated,  are  mentioned  as  the  means  employed 
by  God  in  working  out  this  signal  deliverance,  and  we  need  not,  therefore, 
suppose  anything  so  contrary  to  the  laws  of  nature  as  that  the  children  of 
Israel  crossed  between  two  vertical  walls  of  water  in  the  midst  of  the 
deep  sea,  according  to  the  popular  mode  of  depicting  the  scene.  Some 
writers  have  imagined  that  a  great  change  has  taken  place  in  the  level  of 
the  sea  since  the  time  of  the  Exodus,  but  recent  examination  does  not  at 
all  confirm  this  hypothesis,  while  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  the 
northern  end  of  the  Gulf  of  Suez  has  been  gradually  silted  up,  and  that  in 
consequence  the  shore-line  has  steadily  advanced  farther  and  farther 
southwards.  It  follows  from  this  that,  if,  according  to  the  view  held  by 
many  modern  authorities,  the  passage  took  place  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf 
as  it  existed  at  the  time  of  the  Exodus,  the  Israelites  must  have  crossed 
at  a  point  several  miles  north  of  its  present  limits.” 


A  y UN  MUSA  AND  THE  EXODUS.  159 

Bitter  Lakes  of  the  Isthmus ;  while  the  Egyptians,  on 
their  hot  pursuit,  were  overtaken  by  a  sand-storm,  lost 
their  way  into  the  Sirbonian  Lake  and  perished  there. 

Dr.  Brugsch  supports  his  theory  by  the  alleged 
identity  of  the  Hebrew  camping-stations  with  supposed 
old  Egyptian  localities.  He  identifies  Rameses,  whence 
the  Israelites  started,  with  Tanis  or  Zoan ;  locates 
Pi-hahiroth  on  the  western  end  of  the  Sirbonian  Lake, 
and  Baal-Zephon  at  the  eastern  end  of  it ;  he  identifies 
the  Sea  of  Weeds  (which  in  our  version  is  always  trans¬ 
lated  the  Red  Sea)  with  the  Sirbonian  Lake,  Marah  with 
the  Bitter  Lakes,  and  Elim  with  Aalim  (Fishtown)  or 
Heroopolis,  northeast  of  Suez.* 

But  these  identifications  are  mere  conjectures,  and 
the  whole  theory  is  inconsistent  with  the  Mosaic  narra¬ 
tive,  which  assumes  a  direct  route  to  the  mount  of  God. 
It  is  expressly  said  that  “God  led  them,  not  through  the 
way  of  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  although  that  was 
near  ”  (that  is  the  usual  route  through  the  little  desert  to 
Gaza),  “but  through  the  way  of  the  wilderness  of  the 
Red  Sea.”  (Ex.  13:17,  18.)  Dr.  Brugsch  dislocates  the 
whole  itinerary  of  the  Israelites  before  and  after  the 
Exodus,  and  does  away  with  the  miracle  altogether,  or 
resolves  it  into  a  mere  providence.f 

The  choice  lies,  therefore,  between  the  first  two  views. 
We  prefer  the  second.  But  the  precise  spot  can,  of 

*  See  his  address  before  the  International  Society  of  Orientalists  in 
London,  L'exode  et  les  inotuments  igyptiens,  Leipzig  1865  (35  pages),  ac¬ 
companied  by  a  map. 

t  He  says  himself  (p.  32) :  “Zi?  iniracle,  il  est  vrai,  cesse  d’etre  ten  mira- 
:le  ;  tnais  la  Providetice  divitu  maintient  toujours  sa place  et  son  autorite." 


i6o 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


course,  not  be  identified.  It  is  not  likely  that  any  of  Pha¬ 
raoh’s  chariots  will  ever  come  to  light,  or  that  any  monu¬ 
mental  record  of  the  Egyptians  will  confess  their  disgrace. 
Possibly  some  papyrus  may  be  found  with  a  private 
account  of  the  great  event.  Till  then  we  must  here  as 
in  other  disputed  localities  be  satisfied  with  the  identifi¬ 
cation  of  the  general  locality. 

After  crossing  the  Red  Sea  the  Israelites,  like  all 
modern  travellers,  would  naturally  make  Ayun  Musa  their 
first  station,  where  they  found  an  ample  supply  of  water. 

On  this  memorable  spot  we  read,  as  we  never  read 
before,  that  wonderful  patriotic  ode  of  liberty  which 
Moses  composed  and  sung  with  the  children  of  Israel ; 
chorus  answering  to  chorus,  and  the  maidens  playing  on 
the  timbrels.  It  is  the  national  anthem,  the  Te  Denm, 
the  Nun  danketalle  Gott,  of  the  Hebrews.  It  is  altogether 
worthy  of  the  historic  event  which  inspired  it.  It  sounds 
through  the  psalms  of  Israel,  through  the  thanksgiving 
hymns  of  the  Christian  church,  through  the  touching 
songs  of  liberated  slaves,  and  it  will  swell  the  harmony 
of  the  hymns  of  saints  in  heaven,  when  they  celebrate  the 
final  triumph  of  redemption  in  “the  song  of  Moses  the 
servant  of  God,  and  the  song  of  the  Lamb.” 

I  will  sing  unto  Jehovah, 

For  he  hath  triumphed  gloriously: 

The  horse  and  his  rider 

Hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea. 

Jehovah  is  my  strength  and  song, 

And  he  is  become  my  salvation. 

This  is  my  God,  and  I  will  praise  him; 

My  father’s  God,  and  I  will  exalt  him. 


AYUN  MUSA  AND  THE  EXODUS. 


i6i 


Jehovah  is  a  man  of  war; 

Jehovah  is  his  name. 

Pharaoh’s  chariots  and  his  hosts 
Hath  he  cast  into  the  sea: 

And  his  chosen  captains 
Are  sunk  in  the  Red  Sea. 

The  depths  cover  them. 

They  went  down  to  the  bottom  like  a  stone. 

Thy  right  hand,  O  Jehovah,  glorious  in  power. 

Thy  right  hand,  O  Jehovah,  dasheth  in  pieces  the  enemy. 
And  in  the  greatness  of  thy  majesty 

Thou  overturnest  them  that  rise  up  against  thee : 

Thou  sendest  forth  thy  wrath. 

It  consumeth  them  like  stubble. 

And  with  the  blast  of  thy  nostrils  the  waters  were  piled  up; 
The  floods  stood  upright  as  a  heap. 

The  depths  were  congealed  in  the  heart  of  the  sea. 

The  enemy  said,  I  will  pursue,  I  will  overtake, 

I  will  divide  the  spoil. 

My  soul  shall  be  satisfied  upon  them  ; 

I  will  draw  my  sword. 

My  hand  shall  destroy  them. 

Thou  didst  blow  with  thy  wind. 

The  sea  covered  them : 

They  sank  as  lead  in  the  mighty  waters. 


Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O  Jehovah,  among  the  gods? 
Who  is  like  thee,  glorious  in  holiness, 

Fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders? 

Thou  didst  stretch  out  thy  right  hand. 

The  earth  swallowed  them. 

Thou  in  thy  mercy  didst  lead  the  people 
Which  thou  hast  redeemed. 

Thou  didst  guide  them  in  thy  strength 
To  thy  holy  habitation. 


14* 


BIBLE  LANDS 


The  peoples  have  heard,  they  tremble  : 

Pangs  have  taken  hold  on  the  inhabitants  of  Philistia. 

Then  were  the  chiefs  of  Edom  dismayed. 

The  mighty  men  of  Moab,  trembling  taketh  hold  upon  them. 
All  the  inhabitants  of  Canaan  are  melted  away; 

Terror  and  dread  fall  upon  them. 

By  the  greatness  of  thine  arm  they  are  as  still  as  a  stone ; 

Till  thy  people  pass  over,  O  Jehovah, 

Till  the  people  pass  over 
Which  thou  hast  purchased. 

Thou  shalt  bring  them  in. 

And  plant  them  in  the  mountain  of  thine  inheritance, 

The  place,  O  Jehovah,  which  thou  hast  made  for  thee  to  dwell  in, 
The  sanctuary,  O  Jehovah,  which  thou  hast  established. 
Jehovah  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever. 


FROM  'A  YUN  MUSA  TO  MT.  SINAI.  163 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

FROM  YUN  MUSA  TO  MOUNT  SINAI. 

Hawarah,the  Bitter  Water— Wady  Ghurundel  (Elim) 
— Wady  Useit — W^ady  Taiyibeh — Encamped  by  the 
Red  Sea— The  Hot  Baths  of  Pharaoh — The  Mines 
of  Maghara — Wady  Mokatteb  and  the  Sinaitic  In¬ 
scriptions — Wady  Feiran — Rephidim — Mount  Ser- 
bal — The  Pass  of  the  Wind — First  Sight  of  Er 
Rahah,  the  Convent  and  Mount  Sinai. 

We  leave  ‘Ayun  Musa  early  011  Monday  and  ride  for 
two  days  over  a  dead  level  of  sand  and  gravel  without 
seeing  a  house  or  a  man  or  an  animal  or  a  tree,  only 
every  now  and  then  the  skeleton  of  a  camel  which  marks 
the  track.  In  this  region  Dean  Stanley  was  overtaken 
by  a  roaring  and  driving  sand-storm,  which  lasted  a 
whole  day  and  explained  to  him  the  term  “  howling  ” 
wilderness.  The  whole  air,  he  says,  was  filled  with  a 
tempest  of  sand  driving  in  your  face  like  sleet ;  the 
Bedawin  rode  with  their  shawls  thrown  over  their  heads, 
and  half  of  the  riders  sat  backwards  ;  while  the  camels 
moved  painfully  onwards,  seriously  impeded  by  their 
saddle-bags  which  act  like  sails,  and  stretching  from  time 
to  time  their  long  necks  sideways  to  avoid  the  blast. 
We  had  a  similar  experience  in  crossing  the  Et  Tih. 

On  the  third  day  we  reach  Ain  Hawarah,*  a  solita- 

*  “Fountain  of  Destruction,”  according  to  the  usual  interpretation. 
But  Mr.  Palmer  spells  the  word  with  double  w  {Hawiuarah)  and  explains 
it  to  mean  “a  small  pool.” 


164 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


ry  dilapidated  spring  of  bitter  water  on  an  elevation,  six¬ 
teen  hours’  camel  ride  from  ‘Ayun  Musa.  It  is  usually 
identified  with  Marah  (Bitterness),  mentioned  Exod. 
15:22,  23  (comp.  Num.  33:8,  9):  “So  Moses  brought 
Israel  from  the  Red  Sea  (the  Sea  of  Weeds),  and  they 
went  out  into  the  wilderness  of  Shur ;  and  they  went 
three  days  in  the  wilderness  and  found  no  water.  And 
when  they  came  to  Marah  they  could  not  drink  of  the 
waters  of  Marah,  for  they  were  bitter.  Therefore  the 
name  of  it  was  called  Marah.”  Moses  then  threw  a  tree 
or  aromatic  shrub  into  the  water  and  made  it  sweet.  It 
seems  impossible,  however,  that  a  single  fountain  like 
that  could  have  quenched  the  thirst  of  two  millions,  who 
it  is  supposed  would  require  33,000  buckets  of  water  in 
one  day.  Probably  there  were  more  springs  at  that  time 
A  ride  of  two  hours  brings  us  to  Wady  Ghurundel 
(or  Gharandel),  which  is  usually  identified  with  the  elim 
of  the  Scripture  (Ex.  15:27;  Num.  33:9);  while  others 
locate  Elim  farther  south  in  Wady  Useit  or  Wady  Taiyi- 
beh.  It  certainly  must  have  been  in  this  neighborhood. 
Ghurundel  is  the  first  pleasant  spot  we  meet  with  in  the 
wilderness.  It  might  easily  be  turned  into  a  garden.  It 
has  a  running  brook  with  sweet  fresh  water,  fringed  with 
feathery  tamarisks,  wild  acacias  (or  shittim-wood),  a  few 
palm-trees  and  plenty  of  shrubs  and  grass. 

“  Oh !  I  bless  the  gracious  Giver 
For  the  fountain  and  the  river! 

Bless  him  for  this  cool  retreat. 

So  reviving  and  so  sweet! 


FROM  *A  YON  MUSA  10  MT.  SINAI.  165 


Bless  him  for  this  short  recess 
From  my  toil  and  weariness, 

And  for  this  delicious  cup 
From  the  well  that  cometh  up !” 

On  the  next  day  after  a  ride  of  two  hours  and  a  half 
we  come  to  Wady  Useit,  which  rivals  Ghurundel  in  abun¬ 
dance  of  water  and  vegetation.  In  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day  we  encamp,  under  the  shadow  of  a  beautiful 
rock  and  alongside  of  a  stream,  in  Wady  Taiyibeh  (or 
Tayabeh)  which  is  the  third  claimant  to  the  title  of  Elim. 

From  this  spot  we  enjoy  a  delightful  morning  walk 
through  a  wild  romantic  valley  enclosed  on  both  sides  by 
high  granite  rocks  of  fantastic  formation  and  gorgeous 
coloring,  red,  black,  and  yellow,  to  the  Gulf,  and  take  a 
most  refreshing  bath  in  the  blue  waters  of  the  sea. 
Here  no  doubt  the  Israelites,  a  month  after  their  depar¬ 
ture  from  Egypt,  “encamped  by  the  Red  Sea”  (Num. 
33  ;  10),  and  looked  over  once  more  to  the  distant  shores 
of  Egypt,  before  they  entered  the  wilderness  of  Sin 
“which  is  between  Elim  and  Sinai”  (Ex.  16:  i).  In  the 
neighborhood  are  the  hot  baths  of  Pharaoh,  where  the 
persecutor  of  Israel  literally  breathed  his  last  and  is  still 
boiling  in  punishment  of  his  sin.  This  local  tradition 
contradicts  the  other  that  he  was  drowned  near  ‘Ayun 
Musa ;  but  the  contradiction  does  not  trouble  the  minds 
of  the  Arabs,  who  believe  that  what  is  far  distant  on 
earth  is  very  near  with  Allah.  Mohammed  rode  in  one 
night  on  his  steed  from  Mecca  to  Jerusalem,  up  to  Para¬ 
dise,  and  back  again  to  Mecca ! 

We  now  pass  through  a  succession  of  dry  valleys 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


1 66 

with  magnificent  rocks  and  mountains,  to  the  region  of 
the  turquois  mines  at  Maghara  (Wady  Igne)  which  were 
worked  by  the  ancient  Egyptians  at  intervals  for  about 
seventeen  hundred  years.  Hieroglyphic  inscriptions 
mention  the  names  of  Pharaohs  from  Cheops  (Chufu),  of 
the  fourth  dynasty,  down  to  Rameses  II,;  but  the  name 
of  his  successor  Menephthah  is  not  to  be  found,  and  this 
may  be  used  as  another  incidental  proof  that  he  is  the 
Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus  (see  Chap.  X.,  p.  loi).  Some  years 
ago  an  enterprising  Scotchman,  Major  Macdonald,  whose 
hospitality  Dr.  Brugsch  praises,  reopened  these  mines, 
but  without  much  success,  and  died  in  poverty.  The 
ruins  of  his  house  on  a  hill  are  all  that  remains. 

The  next  place  of  interest  is  Wady  Mokatteb,  so 
called  from  the  famous  Sinaitic  inscriptions  on  the  rocks. 
They  consist  principally  of  proper  names  of  pilgrims, 
traders,  carriers,  written  mostly  in  Nabathean,  some  in 
Coptic,  Aramaic,  Arabic,  and  Greek  characters,  with  rude 
figures  of  men,  camels,  horses,  lizards,  shields,  arrows, 
crosses.  They  are  found  all  around  Mount  Serbal,  but 
especially  here.  Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  who  visited  the 
Peninsula  a,  d.  535,  supposed  them  to  be  the  work  of 
the  ancient  Israelites,  miraculously  preserved  as  testimo¬ 
nies  to  the  truth  of  the  Mosaic  narrative ;  but  they  seem 
to  be  mostly  of  post-Christian  origin,  from  the  second  to 
the  fourth  century.  Lenormant  traces  them  to  early 
Christians  ;  Sharpe  to  Jews  from  Egypt  before  and  after 
Christ ;  Ebers  partly  to  Christians,  partly  to  Nabatheans 
who  worshipped  the  sun  and  the  stars  on  Serbal  and 
other  high  mountains.  The  language  is  understood  by 


FROM  A  YUN  MUSA  TO  MT.  SINAI.  i6; 


some  to  be  Aramaic,  by  others  Arabic.  The  inscrip¬ 
tions  afford  an  inviting  field  for  the  exercise  of  linguistic 
and  palseographic  skill.  They  have  been  carefully  exam¬ 
ined  by  some  German  and  English  scholars,  especially  by 
Beer  (1840),*  Ebers  (1872),!  and  Sharpe  (1875),  J  who  de¬ 
ciphered  the  alphabet,  but  in  a  different  way.  Sharpe 
(the  author  of  “  the  History  of  Egypt  ”)  finds  in  them  the 
frequent  occurrence  of  the  name  “Jao”  (Jehovah),  the 
words  “  memorial  ”  and  “  peace-offering,”  and  lamenta¬ 
tions  over  the  ruined  city  of  Jerusalem  and  the  scattered 
people  of  God.§  But  most  of  the  inscriptions  seem  to  be 

V)  ^=5  U 

3p't3  'tLLF 


SPECIMENS  OF  THE  LETTERS  AND  FIGURES. 


*■  Inscriptiones  veteres,  liiteris  et  lingua  huciisque  incognitis  ad  JMonteni 
Sinai  magno  numero  servatcB.  Lips.,  1840. 

t  Durcli  Gosen  ziim  Sinai,  pp.  165  seq. ;  554  seq. 
t  Hebrew  Inscriptions,  from  the  Valleys  between  Egypt  and  Mount  Si¬ 
nai,  in  their  Original  Characters.  With  Twenty  Plates.  London,  1875. 

§  Here  are  some  specimens  : 

“A  peace-offering  to  the  city.  Accept  her  that  is  made  to  wander,  O 
Jehovah.” 

“A  peace-offering  for  her  that  is  trodden  to  the  ground.” 

“  Lengthen  the  broken  city,  the  cast-off  nation.” 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


1 68 

as  worthless  as  the  inscriptions  of  modern  scribblers  and 
tourists  who  wish  to  immortalize  their  obscurity  by  dis¬ 
figuring  the  works  of  God  or  the  monuments  of  man. 
The  whole  subject  needs  further  investigation. 

Wady  Feiran  is  the  most  beautiful  and  interesting 
valley  of  the  Peninsula.  It  is  several  miles  long  with 
many  windings,  and  ends  in  a  natural  gate  of  rocks  of 
nature’s  primitive  foundry.  It  is  enclosed  by  rugged 
cliffs  rising  over  a  thousand  feet.  It  contains  a  large 
and  fertile  oasis  with  a  fresh  fountain  and  running  brook, 
an  abundance  of  date-palms,  tamarisks,  and  thorn-apples, 
small  plots  of  wheat  and  barley.  Several  hundred  Arabs 
assemble  there  in  harvest.  Stanley  says  that  he  never 
looked  on  “  scenery  at  once  so  grand  and  so  strange,” 
and  cannot  conceive  of  “  a  more  interesting  country  for 
a  geologist.”  Feiran  was  once  an  episcopal  see  (the  an¬ 
cient  Pharan  or  Paran)  and  thickly  populated  by  her¬ 
mits. 

The  ruins  of  a  church  and  convent  and  village,  and 
a  few  Arab  huts  are  still  standing.  Innumerable  tombs 
and  cells  on  the  hills  remain  as  the  silent  witnesses  of 
ancient  asceticism.  On  a  monastic  tradition  of  this  re¬ 
gion  Professor  Ebers  has  constructed  his  latest  eastern 
novel.  Homo  sum  (1878),  which  shows  that  human  na¬ 
ture  cannot  be  entirely  destroyed  by  ascetic  self-mortifi¬ 
cation,  and  is  exposed  to  the  temptation  of  the  devil  in 
the  lonely  desert,  as  well  as  in  the  crowded  city.  The 
monks  embraced  the  Monophysite  and  Monothelite  her¬ 
esy,  and  were  rebuked  by  the  orthodox  synods  and  empe¬ 
rors.  Feiran  went  down  as  the  convent  of  St,  Catharine 


FROM  'AYUN  MUSA  TO  MT.  SINAI.  169 

went  up,  and  Serbal  was  thrown  into  the  shade  by 
Sinai. 

Lepsius,  Ebers,  Stanley,  and  all  the  members  of  the 
Ordnance  Survey  Expedition  (with  the  exception  of  F. 
W.  Holland)  identify  Feiran  with  Rephidim,  where  Israel 
fought  the  Amalekites  (Exod.  17:8-16;  Num.  33  :  14,  15), 
because  they  would  naturally  occupy  and  defend  so  fer¬ 
tile  a  district  against  invaders.*  But  there  are  two 
objections  to  this  view:  i,  that  at  Rephidim  there  was 
“no  water  for  the  people  to  drink”  (Exod.  17:1),  while 
Feiran  has  an  abundance  of  water ;  2,  that  it  was  only  a 
day’s  journey  from  Sinai  (19:1:“  the  same  day  they  came 
into  the  wilderness  of  Sinai  ”) ;  while  Feiran  is  nearly  two 
days’  march  from  it.  Rephidim  must  therefore  be  farther 
southeast  and  nearer  Sinai,  unless  we  regard  (with  Lep¬ 
sius  and  Ebers)  Serbal  as  the  true  Sinai.  Mr.  Holland 
places  Rephidim  twelve  miles  from  Mount  Sinai,  in  a 
gorge  El  Watiyeh,  in  the  Wady  esh  Sheikh,  where  the 
Arabs  show  a  detached  rock  not  unlike  an  arm-chair  in 
shape,  as  “the  Seat  of  Nebi  Musa”  (the  Prophet  Moses), 
which  Moses  may  have  occupied  during  the  battle  with 
the  Amakelites.f 

From  Wady  Feiran  the  ascent  of  Mount  Serbal  is 
made  ;  it  is  a  hard  day’s  work,  but  the  view  from  its  lofty 
peaks  pays  for  the  fatigue ;  it  is  the  most  extensive  in 
the  Peninsula.  The  question  whether  Serbal  or  Sinai  is 

*  Lepsius,  Reise  nach  der  Halbinsel  des  Sinai;  W.  Palmer,  The 
Desert,  etc.,  pp.  158  seq.,  and  p.  49;  Ebers  in  Badeker’s  U^iter-jdSgypten, 
pp.  519,  52a  But  Lepsius  and  Ebers  differ  from  Stanley  and  Palmer  on 
the  Serbil-Sinai  question.  See  Chap.  XVIII. 

t  The  Recovery  of  yerusalem,  p.  421 
Bible  LanilB.  15 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


170 

the  true  Mount  of  God,  will  be  discussed  in  the  next 
chapter. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  Wady  Solaf  and  Wady  esh 
Sheikh  and  encamp  at  the  foot  of  Nugb  Hawa  near  a 
fountain.  Here  we  are  glad  to  enjoy  the  rest  of  the 
second  Sabbath  in  the  wilderness  and  read  in  the  Psalter, 
in  the  books  of  Exodus  and  Numbers,  and  the  descrip¬ 
tions  of  Mount  Sinai  in  our  guide  books. 

The  Nugb  Hawa  or  Pass  of  the  Wind,  is  one  of  the 
most  rugged,  precipitous  and  sublime  mountain  passes, 
and  forms  a  magnificent  portal  or  propylon  to  “  the  Mount 
of  God.”  It  is  impassable  for  the  baggage-camels,  which 
are  sent  on  a  detour  of  six  or  eight  miles  through  the 
Wady  esh  Sheikh.  It  reminded  me  of  St.  Gotthard  and 
other  Alpine  passes  of  Switzerland. 

After  severe  climbing  over  granite  rocks  to  the  sum¬ 
mit  of  this  Alpine  pass  of  the  desert,  the  vast  Wady  Er 
Rahah  (Valley  of  Rest),  the  fortlike  convent  of  St.  Cath¬ 
arine,  and  Mount  Sinai  in  all  its  awful  majesty,  burst 
upon  our  sight,  and  we  seem  to  feel  the  immediate  pres¬ 
ence  of  the  infinite  Jehovah,  and  to  witness  one  of  the 
greatest  events  in  the  history  of  mankind.  “Whatever,” 
says  Dean  Stanley,  “  may  have  been  the  scene  of  the  events 
in  Exodus,  I  cannot  imagine  that  any  human  being  could 
pass  up  that  plain  and  not  feel  that  he  was  entering  a 
place  above  all  others  suited  for  the  most  august  of  the 
sights  of  earth.” 


MOUNT  SI  NAT 


i/i 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

MOUNT  SINAI. 

Mount  Sinai  and  the  Mount  of  Beatitudes — The  Ter¬ 
rors  of  the  haw  and  the  Promises  of  the  Gospel — 
Impressions — Jebel  Musa  and  Ras  Sufsafeh — The 
True  Mount  of  God— The  Claims  of  Serbal. 

Mount  Sinai,  or  Horeb,*  is  the  chief  object  of  inter¬ 
est  in  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula.  A  visit  to  it  is  an  ample 
reward  for  all  the  trouble  and  fatigue  of  the  journey 
through  the  wilderness. 

From  the  throne  of  the  Mount  of  God  the  purest  and 
sublimest  code  of  laws  was  proclaimed  for  all  ages  of  the 
world.  The  Decalogue  is  a  moral  miracle  greater  than 
the  physical  miracles  wrought  in  Egypt,  and  is  the  best 
evidence  of  the  divine  legation  of  Moses — that  mighty 
man  of  God  who  towers  high  above  ancient  and  modern 
legislators.  But  there  is  One  greater  than  Moses ;  and 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which  contains  the  Magna 
Charta  of  Christ's  kingdom,  is  better,  as  it  goes  deeper 
and  aims  higher,  than  the  Ten  Commandments.  There 
is  a  poetic  fitness  in  the  correspondence  between  these 
two  codes  and  their  locality.  Mount  Sinai  in  the  frown¬ 
ing  wilderness  is  the  appropriate  pulpit  for  the  procla¬ 
mation  of  the  law  which  threatens  death  and  damnation 

*  The  two  names  are  identical.  (Compare  Exod.  3:1;  18  :  5 ;  Deut. 
1:6;  5:2;  I  Kings  19 : 8.)  The  one  probably  designates  the  whole 
range,  the  other  a  particular  mountain,  as  they  do  at  the  present  day. 


1/2 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


to  the  transgressor ;  the  Mount  of  Beatitudes  on  the 
smilinglakeshoreof  Galilee  is  the  best  pulpit  for  the  gos¬ 
pel  of  freedom,  which  promises  life  and  salvation  to  the 
humble  and  penitent  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  right¬ 
eousness. 

Sinai  looks  like  “a  huge  altar”  of  incense.  There  it 
stands  in  solemn  silence  and  solitary  grandeur,  surrounded 
by  death  and  desolation,  and  reflecting  the  terrible  maj¬ 
esty  and  holiness  of  God.  In  ascending  Jebel  Musa  and 
Ras  Sufsafeh,  where  Moses  communed  with  the  infinite 
Jehovah  as  no  other  mortal  ever  did,  I  was  overwhelmed 
with  this  idea.  Such  a  sight  of  terrific  grandeur  and 
awful  majesty  I  never  saw  before,  nor  expect  to  see  again 
in  this  world. 

At  the  same  time  I  felt  more  than  ever  before  the 
contrast  between  the  old  and  new  dispensations  :  the 
severity  and  terror  of  the  law,  and  the  sweetness  and 
loveliness  of  the  gospel.  Blessed  be  God  that  we  “  are 
not  come  unto  the  mount  that  might  be  touched  and  that 
burned  with  fire,  nor  unto  blackness,  and  darkness,  and 
tempest,  and  the  sound  of  the  trumpet,  ....  but  unto 
Mount  Sion,  and  unto  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  to  an  innumerable  company  of 
angels,  to  the  general  assembly  and  church  of  the  first¬ 
born,  which  are  written  in  heaven,  and  to  God  the  Judge 
of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  and  to 
Jesus  the  mediator  of  a  new  covenant,  and  to  the  blood 
of  sprinkling  that  speaketh  better  things  than  that  of 
Abel.”  (Heb.  12:18-24.) 

“The  law  was  given  by  Moses,  but  grace  and  truth 


MOUNT  SINAI. 


173 


came  by  Jesus  Christ”  (John  1:17).  Sinai  is  in  bondage 
with  her  children;  Jerusalem  above  is  free  (Gal.  4:22- 
26).  But  the  law  was  the  schoolmaster  to  lead  us  to 
Christ  by  bringing  us  to  a  knowledge  of  sin  and  a  sense 
of  the  need  of  redemption.  It  contained,  under  a  hard 
shell,  the  sweet  kernel  of  the  gospel.  God  could  not 
command  his  poor  fallen  creatures  to  do  his  will  without 
intending  to  give  them  the  ability  and  showing  them  the 
way  of  salvation  from  the  curse  of  the  law.  On  the  same 
Mount  Sinai  Jehovah  appeared  to  Elijah,  not  in  the 
raging  storm,  not  in  the  earthquake,  not  in  the  consu¬ 
ming  fire,  but  in  the  still,  small  voice  (i  Kings  19:11, 
seq.) ;  thus  foreshadowing  the  higher  revelation  of  love 
and  mercy  in  the  gospel.  Moses  and  Elijah,  the  two 
prophets  connected  with  Horeb,  were  permitted  to  meet, 
as  the  representatives  of  the  covenant  of  law  and  prom¬ 
ise,  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  and  there  to  behold 
the  greater  glory  of  Him  who  came  to  fulfil  the  law  and 
the  prophets,  and  to  speak  with  him  of  that  greatest  of 
themes — the  death  which  he  should  suffer  at  Jerusalem 
for  the  sins  of  the  world. 

Mount  Sinai  lies  in  the  midst  of  a  group  of  moun¬ 
tains,*  but  is  surrounded  by  valleys.  It  rises  up  precip¬ 
itously  from  the  bottom  of  the  plain  of  sand  and  hard 
gravel  to  a  height  of  over  2,000  feet,  or  over  7,000  feet 
from  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  covers  about  two  miles  in 
length  from  north  to  south  and  one  mile  in  breadth. f  It 

*  Exod.  30  :  12:  “to  slay  them  in  the  77iou7ttains l  Kings  19:11  : 
“  a  great  and  strong  wind  rent  the  77i(m7ttams  and  brake  in  pieces  the 
rocks  before  the  Lord.” 

t  According  to  the  measurements  of  the  English  Ordnance  Survey, 

15* 


174 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


can  be  “  touched,”  and  the  people  of  Israel  could  stand 
“at  the  nether  part  of  the  mount”  (in  Wady  Er  Rahah) 
and  listen  to  the  voice  of  God  speaking  to  them  from  the 
northern  summit.*  It  consists  of  two  peaks ;  the  south¬ 
ern  peak  is  called  yebel  Musa,  or  “  the  Mount  of  Moses 
the  northern  peak  Ras  Sufsafch,  or  “  the  Peak  of  the  Wil¬ 
low”  (probably  so  called  from  an  old  willow-tree  beneath 
the  summit  at  the  small  chapel  of  the  Virgin  Mary).  The 
former  is  the  traditional,  the  latter,  as  I  take  it,  the  real  spot 
of  the  giving  of  the  law  ;  but  both  together  must  be  inclu¬ 
ded  in  “  the  Mount  of  God,”  and  witnessed  the  grand  and 
overwhelming  theophany  described  by  Moses.  “There 
were  thunders  and  lightnings,  and  a  thick  cloud  upon  the 
mount,  and  the  voice  of  the  trumpet  exceeding  loud  ;  so 
that  all  the  people  that  were  in  the  camp  trembled ;  and 
Mount  Sinai  was  altogether  on  a  smoke,  because  the 
Lord  descended  upon  it  in  fire :  and  the  smoke  thereof 
ascended  as  the  smoke  of  a  furnace,  and  the  whole  mount 
quaked  greatly”  (Exod.  19:16,  18).  Then  it  was  that 
“Jehovah  talked  with  Israel  face  to  face  in  the  mount  out 
of  the  midst  of  the  fire,  of  the  cloud,  and  of  the  thick 
darkness,  with  a  great  voice,”  and  that  Moses  stood  be¬ 
tween  Jehovah  and  the  people  to  show  them  the  Ten 
Words  of  Jehovah,  and  received  them  on  the  two  tables 
of  stone  (Deut.  5  : 2,  4,  5,  22).  It  was  then  that  the  heads 
of  the  tribes  and  the  elders  said  unto  Moses:  “Behold, 
Jehovah  our  God  hath  showed  us  his  glory  and  his  great- 

the  Convent  of  St.  Catharine  is  5,020,  Jebel  Musa  7,359,  Jebel  Catharine 
8,526  (Jebel  Serbal  6,734)  feet  above  the  sea. 

*  Compare  Exod.  I9«:  12,  17;  Deut.  4:  ii,  12. 


MOUNT  SINAI. 


175 


ness,  and  we  have  heard  his  voice  out  of  the  midst  of  the 
fire  :  we  have  seen  this  day  that  God  doth  talk  with  man, 
and  he  liveth.  Now,  therefore,  why  should  we  die  ?  for 
this  great  fire  will  consume  us  :  if  we  hear  the  voice  of 
Jehovah  any  more,  then  we  shall  die.  For  who  is  there 
of  all  flesh  that  hath  heard  the  voice  of  the  living  God 
speaking  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,  as  we  have,  and 
lived  !”  (Dent.  5  :  24-26.) 

Guided  hy  a  monk  of  the  convent  of  St.  Catharine 
and  accompanied  by  a  few  Arabs,  we  first  ascend  Jebel 
Musa,  partly  by  camel,  partly  on  foot  over  rough  granite 
steps  cut  by  the  monks  for  pilgrims  between  vast  rocks 
of  the  wildest  description.  The  ascent  is  comparatively 
easy  and  takes  three  hours.  From  the  lofty  peak  of  Je¬ 
bel  Musa  the  eye  looks  over  the  fearful  precipice  to  the 
desolate  and  narrow  Wady  Sebaiyeh  below,*  then  to  the 
two  conical  peaks  of  St.  Catharine  (which,  being  higher, 
obstructs  the  view  to  the  south),  and  the  Gulf  of  Suez 
and  Gulf  of  ‘Akabah  in  the  far  distance.  No  lake,  no 
brook,  no  waterfall,  no  meadow,  no  forest  meets  the 
eye,  as  from  the  Swiss  mountains ;  no  sound  breaks  the 
stillness,  unless  it  be  the  voice  of  storm  and  thunder, 
when  heavy  clouds  gather  around  the  peak  and  the 
lightning  flashes  leap  down  into  the  darkness.  Each 
rock  stands  out  in  its  rugged  outline  and  distinctive 
shape  and  color,  now  yellow,  now  purple,  now  black,  in 

*  i.  e.  “the  Keeper’s  Valley,”  in  allusion  to  Moses  as  “the  keeper” 
of  Jethro’s  flocks.  But  Palmer  (Vol.  I.,  p.  137)  makes  it  to  mean  “the 
valley  of  the  Brave  Youth.”  The  monks  inconsistently  locate  the  battle 
of  Rephidim  in  this  valley.  But  Rephidim  was  a  day’s  journey  from  the 
wilderness  of  Sinai  (Ex.  19:  r,  2). 


176 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


the  dazzling  brightness  of  the  sunlight.  A  chapel  of  the 
Holy  Trinity,  which  contains  some  Greek  and  Russian 
service-books,  is  erected  on  the  top ;  the  ruins  of  a 
mosque  and  several  spots  memorable  in  the  history  of 
Moses  and  Mohammed  are  shown  ;  for  the  place  is  alike 
sacred  to  the  Christians,  the  Jews  and  the  Mohamme¬ 
dans. 

Here  on  the  plateau  of  Jebel  Musa,  as  already  re¬ 
marked,  the  monastic  tradition  locates  the  scene  of  legis¬ 
lation,  and  it  is  very  natural  that  it  should  select  the 
highest  summdt  as  the  throne  of  God  from  which  he 
spoke  to  Israel.  Ritter  (who  never  was  there,  but  care¬ 
fully  examined  all  reports  of  travellers),  Tischendorf  (who 
visited  Sinai  three  times,  1844,  1854,  and  1859, 
much  more  interested  in  the  library  of  the  convent  than 
in  the  topography),  Laborde  and  others  defend  the  tradi¬ 
tion  and  claim  that  Wady  Sebaiyeh,  at  the  foot  of  Jebel 
Musa,  was  sufficiently  large  to  accommodate  the  army  of 
Israel  and  to  enable  them  to  witness  the  theophany. 
But  it  did  not  strike  me  so  as  seen  from  the  mountain 
top.  Sebaiyeh  is  narrow,  broken,  and  uneven,  and  does 
not  run  up  close  to  the  foot  of  Jebel  Musa  so  that  this 
might  be  touched  and  surrounded  by  the  people.  If 
therefore  we  can  find  a  better  locality  in  the  same  Sinai 
group,  we  need  not  hesitate  to  give  it  the  preference  and 
to  exercise  our  judgment  in  discriminating  between  the 
general  truth  of  the  tradition  and  the  error  in  its  minor 
details.  This  superior  locality  we  find  on  the  northern 
peak  of  Sinai. 

Coming  down  from  Jebel  Musa,  we  lunch  at  the 


MOUNT  SINAI. 


177 


double  chapel  of  Moses  and  Elijah.*  It  lies  on  a  plateau 
surrounded  by  high  walls  of  rock,  which  afford  shelter, 
while  the  neighboring  “Fountain  of  Elijah”  supplies  wa¬ 
ter.  Around  it  are  plots  of  green  grass  and  some  tall 
cypresses.  Here  the  two  prophets  may  have  rested  and 
refreshed  themselves  during  their  forty  days’  retreat. 
Behind  the  chapel  we  enter  the  cave  in  which  Elijah 
lodged  and  God  appeared  to  him  in  “a  still  small  voice” 
(i  Kings  19  : 9,  seq.).  Whether  this  vision  occurred  in  this 
particular  spot  or  not,  it  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
in  the  history  of  revelation.  Then  we  descend  to  “  the 
Fountain  of  Elijah,”  and  wind  our  way  through  wild  ra¬ 
vines  and  gorges  till  we  come  to  a  rude  chapel  dedicated 
to  the  “  Holy  Zone  of  the  Virgin  Mary,”  and  an  old  wil¬ 
low-tree  which  gave  the  name  to  the  peak,  and  from 
which  Moses  is  said  to  have  cut  the  miraculous  rod  with 
which  he  smote  the  rock  of  Horeb. 

Then  we  climb  with  difficulty  and  some  danger  over 
granite  blocks  to  the  giddy  height  of  Ras  Sufsafeh. 
Here  on  a  projecting  rock  we  rest  an  hour,  looking  down 
on  the  vast  plain  of  Er  Rahah  and  the  adjoining  Wadys 
of  esh  Sheikh  and  Leja,  and  looking  beyond  to  the  am¬ 
phitheatre  of  mountains  which  wall  them  in,  and  medita¬ 
ting  over  the  past  which  here  assumes  the  character  of  a 
present  overpowering  reality.  We  are  lost  in  amazement 
at  the  panorama  of  terrible  sublimity  of  nature,  and  the 
immeasurable  significance  of  that  historic  event  which  is 

*  This  is  the  true  name  of  the  chapel  (instead  of  the  usual  designa¬ 
tion,  “the  Chapel  of  Elijah  and  Elisha,'''  as  given  by  Palmer,  Badeker  and 
others).  So  the  guiding  monk  informed  me  and  directed  me  to  the  pic¬ 
tures  of  Moses  and  Elijah.  Elisha  had  nothing  to  do  with  Horeb. 


178 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


felt  to  this  day  all  over  the  world  as  far  as  the  Ten  Com¬ 
mandments  are  known  and  read.  It  is  difficult  to  im¬ 
agine  a  more  solemn  and  impressive  sight. 

We  then  descend  a  steep  ravine  (imagining  that  we 
follow  the  track  of  Moses,  Exod.  32:17,  19),  over  con¬ 
fused  heaps  of  rocks  to  the  valley  Er  Rahah,  and  re¬ 
turn  to  our  camp  near  the  convent.  It  was  the  most 
fatiguing  as  well  as  the  most  interesting  day’s  work  of 
mountain  climbing  I  can  remember. 

I  fully  satisfied  my  mind  that  Ras  Sufsafeh  is  the 
platform  from  which  the  Law  was  proclaimed.  Here  all 
the  conditions  required  by  the  Scripture  narrative  are 
combined.  Moses  may  have  received  the  Law  on  the 
higher  Jebel  Musa,  but  it  must  have  been  proclaimed  to 
the  people  from  Ras  Sufsafeh,  which  can  be  seen  from 
every  part  of  the  plain  below.*  For  Er  Rahah  is  a  smooth 
and  gigantic  camping  ground  protected  by  surround¬ 
ing  mountains,  and  contains — as  has  been  ascertained 
by  actual  measurement -- two  millions  of  square  yards, 
so  that  the  whole  people  of  Israel  could  find  ample  room 
and  plainly  see  and  hear  the  man  of  God  on  the  rocky 
pulpit  above.f  Dean  Stanley  relates  that  “from  the 

*  Such  a  distinction  between  a  higher  and  lower  summit  of  Sinai 
seems  to  be  indicated  in  the  passage  Exodus  19  :  20  seq. :  “And  Jehovah 
came  down  upon  Mount  Sinai,  on  the  top  of  the  mount :  and  Jehovah 
called  Moses  up  to  the  top  of  the  mount,  and  Moses  went  up.  And  Je¬ 
hovah  said  unto  Moses,  Go  down,  charge  the  people .  So  Moses 

went  down  unto  the  people  and  spake  unto  them.  And  God  spake  all 
these  words,  saying,”  etc. 

t  “  A  calculation  made  by  Captain  Palmer,  from  the  actual  measure¬ 
ments  taken  on  the  spot,  proves  that  the  space  extending  frons  the  base 
of  the  mountain  to  the  watershed  or  crest  of  the  plain  is  large  enough  to 
have  accommodated  the  entire  host  of  the  Israelites,  estimated  at  two 


MOUNT  SINAI. 


179 


highest  point  of  Ras  Sufsafeh  to  its  lower  peak,  a  dis¬ 
tance  of  about  sixty  feet,  the  page  of  a  book,  distinctly 
but  not  loudly  read,  was  perfectly  audible;  and  every 
remark  of  the  various  groups  of  travellers  rose  clearly  to 
those  immediately  above  them.”  Descending  from  that 
mount  through  a  ravine  between  two  peaks,  Moses  and 
Joshua  might  have  first  heard  the  shouts  of  the  people 
before  they  saw  them  dancing  round  the  golden  calf. 
(Exod.  32:17,  19.)  In  one  word,  there  is  the  most  com¬ 
plete  adaptation  of  this  locality  to  all  the  circumstances 
of  the  Sinaitic  legislation  as  described  by  Moses.  Tra¬ 
dition  is  for  Jebel  Musa,  the  Bible  for  Ras  Sufsafeh.  But 
after  all  they  form  but  one  mountain  (as  do  the  five  peaks 
of  Serbal),  and  tradition  in  this  case  is  at  least  very  near 
the  truth. 

The  same  conclusion  was  reached  by  Dr.  Robinson, 
who  first  ascended  Ras  Sufsafeh  (on  his  visit  in  1838), 
and  who  first  pointed  out  this  spot  as  the  true  locality,* 

million  souls,  with  an  allowance  of  about  a  square  yard  for  each  individ¬ 
ual.”  The  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  Vol.  L,  p.  117.  Robinson  likewise  meas¬ 
ured  Er  Rahah  and  found  it  to  be  two  geographical  miles  long  and  from 
one-third  to  two-thirds  of  a  mile  broad,  or  equivalent  to  a  surface  of  at 
least  one  square  mile.  This  space  is  nearly  doubled  by  the  recess  on  the 
west  and  by  the  broad  and  level  area  of  Wady  esh  Sheikh  on  the  east, 
which  issues  at  right  angles  to  the  plain.  Resear<hcs,  Vol.  L,  p.  95  (ed.  of 
1856). 

*  See  Biblical  Researches,  Vol.  L,  pp.  106,  107:  “While  the  monks 
were  here  employed  in  lighting  tapers  and  burning  incense,  we  deter¬ 
mined  to  scale  the  almost  inaccessible  peak  of  es-Sufsafeh  before  us,  in 
order  to  look  out  upon  the  plain,  and  judge  for  ourselves  as  to  the  adapt¬ 
edness  of  this  part  of  the  mount  to  the  circumstances  of  the  Scriptural  his¬ 
tory.  This  cliff  rises  some  five  hundred  feet  above  the  basin ;  and  the 
distance  to  the  summit  is  more  than  half  a  mile.  We  first  attempted  to 
climb  the  side  in  a  direct  course,  but  found  the  rock  so  smooth  and  pre- 


i8o 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


by  Dean  Stanley,  who  was  there  in  1852,*  Dr.  J.  L.  Por¬ 
ter,!  and  by  all  the  members  of  the  English  Ordnance 
Survey  Expedition  of  1868-1869,  under  the  lead  of  Cap¬ 
tains  Wilson  and  Palmer  of  the  Royal  Engineers.! 

cipitous,  that  after  some  falls  and  more  exposures,  we  were  obliged  to  give 
it  up,  and  clamber  upwards  along  a  steep  ravine  by  a  more  northern  and 
circuitous  course.  From  the  head  of  this  ravine  we  were  able  to  climb 
around  the  face  of  the  northern  precipice  and  reach  the  top,  along  the 
deep  hollows  worn  in  the  granite  by  the  weather  during  the  lapse  of  ages, 
which  give  to  this  part,  as  seen  from  below,  the  appearance  of  architectu¬ 
ral  ornament. 

“  The  extreme  difficulty  and  even  danger  of  the  ascent  was  well 
rewarded  by  the  prospect  that  now  opened  before  us.  The  whole  plain 
Er  Rahah  lay  spread  out  beneath  our  feet,  with  the  adjacent  wadys  and 
mountains;  while  Wady  esh  Sheikh  on  the  right,  and  the  recess  on  the 
left,  both  connected  with  and  opening  broadly  from  Er  Rahah,  presented 
an  area  which  serves  nearly  to  double  that  of  the  plain.  Our  conviction 
was  strengthened,  that  here,  or  on  some  one  of  the  adjacent  cliffs,  was  the 
spot  where  the  Lord  ‘descended  in  fire’  and  proclaimed  the  law.  Here 
lay  the  plain  where  the  whole  congregation  might  be  assembled;  here  was 
the  mount  that  could  be  approached  and  touched,  if  not  forbidden  ;  and 
here  the  mountain  brow,  where  alone  the  lightnings  and  the  thick  cloud 
would  be  visible,  and  the  thunders  and  the  voice  of  the  trump  be  heard, 
when  the  Lord  ‘  came  down  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people  upon  Mount 
Sinai.’  We  gave  ourselves  up  to  the  impressions  of  the  awful  scene,  and 
read,  with  a  feeling  that  will  never  be  forgotten,  the  sublime  account  of  the 
transaction,  and  the  commandments  there  promulgated,  in  the  original 
words  as  recorded  by  the  great  Hebrew  legislator.  Exod.  19 : 9-25 ; 
20:1-21.” 

*  Sinai  and  Palestine,  p.  76  (Am.  ed.)  :  “  I  am  sure  that  if  the  monks 
of  Justinian  had  fixed  the  traditional  scene  on  the  Ras  Sufsafeh,  no  one 
would  for  an  instant  have  doubted  that  this  only  could  be  the  spot.” 

t  Handbook  for  Travellers  in  Sinai  and  Palestine.,  p.  71  (ed.  of  1875); 
“  The  mountain,  the  plain,  the  streamlet,  and  the  whole  topography  cor¬ 
respond  in  every  respect  to  the  historical  narrative  of  Moses.” 

f  See  the  report  of  Rev.  F.  W.  Holland,  in  Recovery  of  Jerusalem 
(London  and  New  York,  1871),  p.  412,  and  Professor  E.  H.  Palmer’s  Des¬ 
ert  0/  the  Exodus  (Cambridge  and  New  York,  1871),  Part  I.,  pp.  112  seq. 
Holland  visited  Sinai  four  times,  and  Palmer  travelled  on  foot  over  the 
Sinaitic  Peninsula  for  eleven  months.  Holland  says;  “The  members  of 


MOUNT  SERBAL. 


*  V* 


>#■ 


.  V" 


k  ■*  ..iil 


MOUNT  SINAI. 


i8i 


On  the  other  hand,  some  distinguished  scholars  still 
plead  for  Serbal  as  the  Mount  of  God,  especially  Lep- 
sius,*  Ebers,t  and  Sharpe.l  Let  us  consider  their  argu¬ 
ments. 

1.  Serbal  was  early  regarded  as  a  sacred  mountain, 
and  is  identified  with  Sinai  by  Eusebius,  Jerome,  and  the 
monk  Cosmas,  who  was  there  himself  in  the  sixth  cen¬ 
tury.  But  the  tradition  of  Jebel  Musa  is  stronger,  and 
from  the  age  of  Justinian  well-nigh  unanimous.§ 

2.  The  Sinaitic  inscriptions  even  to  the  top  of  Ser¬ 
bal.  If  these  were  really  of  Hebrew  origin,  according  to 
the  theory  of  Samuel  Sharpe,  they  would  indeed  prove 
that  Serbal  was  a  place  of  pilgrimage  for  Jews,  though 
by  no  means  from  the  time  of  Moses,  for  the  179  inscrip¬ 
tions  which  he  translates  make  no  allusion  to  the  legisla¬ 
tion  and  the  wanderings,  and  imply. the  destruction  of  Je¬ 
rusalem.  ||  Other  scholars  trace  the  inscriptions  in  Wady 
Mokatteb  and  its  neighborhood  mostly  to  Nabathean  or 

our  Expedition  were  as  unanimous  in  their  conviction  that  the  Law  was 
given  from  Ras  Sufsafeh  to  the  Israelites  assembled  in  the  plain  of  Er 
Rahah,  as  they  had  been  unanimous  in  rejecting  Serbal  as  the  mount  of 
giving  the  Law.” 

*  Briefe  aus  Aigypten,  etc.,  1852;  and  Reise  7tach  der  Halbinsel  des 
Sinai,  1876. 

t  Durch  Gosen  zum  Sinai,  Leipzig,  1872,  pp.  380’-426.  See  also  Biide- 
ker’s  Aigypten,  1877,  Vol.  I.,  p.  522,  where  Ebers  defends  the  same  view. 
He  accounts  for  the  transfer  of  the  sacred  tradition  from  Serbal  to  Jebel 
Musa  by  the  bad  repute  of  Pharan  for  heresy  in  the  fifth  century. 

t  Hebrew  Inscriptions  from  the  Valleys  between  Egypt  and  Mount  Sinai, 
London,  1875,  p.  4. 

§  Palmer  came  to  the  conclusion  (p.  5)  “  that  the  claims  of  Serbal  are 
comparatively  modern,  and  that  tradition  points  to  the  neighborhood  of 
that  mountain  rather  as  a  site  of  Rephidim  than  of  Sinai,  and  that  the 
true  traditional  Sinai  is  Jebel  Musa.” 

II  See  above  p.  166. 

Bible  Lande.  16 


i82 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


heathen  origin.  It  is  quite  likely  that  Serbal  was  sacred 
to  the  old  heathen  inhabitants  of  the  desert,  as  Ritter*  ' 
assumes.  In  any  case,  those  inscriptions  are  not  conclu¬ 
sive,  as  they  are  found  also  in  Nugb  Hawa,  round  Jebel 
Musa,  in  the  valley  Leja,  and  in  remote  wadys  of  the 
Peninsula. 

3.  Serbal  attracted  at  an  early  date  a  large  number 
of  Christian  pilgrims  and  anchorites.  But  this  may  be 
accounted  for  by  the  fertility  of  Wady  Feiran,  and  the 
large  number  of  caves  in  the  surrounding  rocks. 

4.  It  seems  strange  that  Serbal,  if  it  be  not  the  Mount 
of  God,  should  not  be  mentioned  in  the  Exodus,  since 
the  Israelites  reached  it  first.  But  the  omission  of  any 
mention  of  the  Sinai  group  would  be  equally  strange. 

5.  Wady  Feiran,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
Serbal,  has  the  requisite  water  and  pasturage  for  a  long 
sojourn  of  a  large  army.  But  the  same  is  true  of  the 
Sinaitic  group,  where  there  are  several  streams  of  run¬ 
ning  water  and  fruitful  gardens  planted  by  monks. 

6.  Serbal  equals  Jebel  Musa  “  in  massive  ruggedness, 
in  boldness  of  feature  and  outline  and  although  falling 
625  feet  beneath  the  height  of  Sinai — being  only  6,734 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea — it  looks  more  imposing 
at  a  distance.  But  its  five  magnificent  peaks  can  be 
seen  at  once  only  from  one  of  the  neighboring  hills,  and 
in  part  from  a  few  spots  in  Wady  Feiran. 

7.  The  battle  of  Israel  against  the  Amalekites  at 
Rephidim  (Exod.  17:8)  must  have  been  fought  in  the 

*  Palestine  and  the  Sinaitic  Peninstila,  Vol.  I.,  p.  316  seq.  (Gage’s 
condensed  translation.) 


MOUNT  SINAI. 


183 

Wady  Feiran,  because  the  Amalekites  would  not  have 
surrendered  so  fertile  an  oasis  to  an  invading  army  with¬ 
out  a  struggle  ;  and  Rephidim  was  near  “  Horeb,”  where 
Jethro  visited  Moses,  his  son-in-law,  after  the  battle 
(Exod.  17:6;  18:5;  comp.  19:1,2  and  Numb.  33  :  15)  ; 
while  the  traditional  Sinai  is  two  days’  journey  from  Fei¬ 
ran.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  Serbal  is  only  two  miles 
from  Wady  Feiran,  too  near  for  a  day’s  journey  ;  and 
Rephidim,  where  there  was  “  no  water  for  the  people  to 
drink”  (Exod.  17:1),  so  that  Moses  smote  the  rock  of 
Horeb  (ver.  6),  cannot  have  been  in  Wady  Feiran  with 
its  fountains  and  running  streams,  and  must  be  sought 
somewhere  else  between  Serbal  and  Sinai.*  But  even  if 
we  locate  it  in  Feiran,  it  is  not  impossible  that  the  chiefs 
of  Israel  might  have  reached  the  wilderness  of  Sinai  in 
one  day  by  the  shorter  route  over  Nugb  Hawa,  while  the 
host  took  the  easier  route  through  Wady  esh  Sheikh. 

The  most  conclusive  argument,  however,  against  Ser¬ 
bal  as  the  Mount  of  God  is  the  entire  absence  of  an  open 
and  sufficient  space  where  the  people  could  assemble  so 
as  to  stand  “under  the  mountain”  and  to  touch  its  “neth¬ 
er  part.”  This  indispensable  geographical  condition  is 
met  fully,  and  met  only,  in  Wady  Er  Rahah,  beneath  the 
northern  peak  of  Mount  Sinai.  However  well  suited 
Serbal  may  have  been  for  receiving  the  law,  it  was  un¬ 
suited  for  the  giving  of  the  law  within  the  hearing  of  the 
people  ;  while  Ras  Sufsafeh  was  equally  suited  for  both. 

*  See  Chap.  XVII.,  p.  168. 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


184 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  CONVENT  OF  ST  CATHARIAE. 

Fcundation  of  the  Convent  — St.  Catharine  —  Hospi¬ 
tality— The  Church  and  the  Mosque— The  Chapel 
of  the  Burning  Bush — The  Chamber  of  Skulls — 
The  Library — The  Codex  Sinaiticus — Dr.  Tisehen- 
dorf— The  Monks  and  the  Arabs — Jebel  ed-Deir — 
Excursion  to  Wady  Leja. 

Next  to  Mount  Sinai  itself,  the  Convent  of  St.  Cath¬ 
arine,  at  its  base,  is  the  most  remarkable  object  of  inter¬ 
est  in  the  Peninsula,  It  has  recently  arrested  the  atten¬ 
tion  of  scholars  in  connection  with  the  most  important 
literary  discovery  of  the  age,  which  has  proved  of  great 
service  in  settling  the  original  text  of  the  New  Testament* 
The  Convent  of  Mount  Sinai  dates  from  the  Byzan¬ 
tine  Emperor  Justinian,  the  famous  legislator  and  build¬ 
er,  (a.  d.  527-565),  who  reared  the  magnificent  church  of 
St  Sophia  in  Constantinople.  He  fortified  and  endowed 
the  little  church  of  St.  Helena,  the  mother  of  Constan¬ 
tine,  “  on  the  spot  where  God  spake  with  Moses.”  It  was 
at  first  dedicated  to  the  Transfiguration,  but  afterwards 

*  The  best  accounts  of  the  Convent  before  the  discovery  of  the  Codex 
Sinaiticus  we  owe  toPococke,  Burckhardt,  Robinson,  and  Ritter.  Since 
the  discovery,  Tischendorf  (in  his  Reise  in  den  Orient,  Leipz.,  1846,  and 
Die  Sihaibibel ;  Hire  Entdecknng,  Herausgabe  iind  Erwerbung,  1871),  E.  H. 
Palmer  {The  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  1871,  Part  I.,  pp.  56-78),  and  Ebers 
{Durch  Gosen  zum  Sinai,  1872,  pp.  250-309),  have  given  us  the  fullest  and 
most  authentic  information. 


THE  CONVENT  OF  ST.  CATHARINE.  185 


to  St.  Catharine  (Katharina),  a  famous  saint  of  the  Greek 
and  Russian  Church,  the  patroness  of  Christian  learning 
and  philosophy,  after  whom  several  Russian  empresses 
were  named.  According  to  tradition,  based  in  part  on 
Eusebius  (who,  however,  does  not  mention  her  name), 
she  was  a  virgin  of  noble  birth,  great  wealth,  and  rare 
scholarship  in  Alexandria,  and  suffered  martyrdom  under 
the  persecution  of  Maximinus  (Nov.  25,  313),  after  resist¬ 
ing  the  beastly  lusts  of  the  tyrant.  The  legend  adds  that 
she  was  first  put  upon  an  engine  made  of  four  wheels 
with  sharp  spikes,  but  the  engine  was  broken  by  the 
invisible  power  of  an  angel  (hence  “  St.  Catharine’s 
Wheels  ”).  About  five  hundred  years  after  her  death  the 
Christians  in  Egypt,  then  groaning  under  the  yoke  of 
the  Saracens,  discovered  her  remains.  Angels  trans¬ 
ported  the  body  (or  at  least  the  head)  through  the  air 
from  Alexandria  to  the  top  of  Jebel  Catharine;  there 
some  pious  monks  discovered  it,  and  carried  it  to  its 
final  resting-place  in  the  Convent.  The  more  intelligent 
Greeks  say  that  “angelic”  monks  carried  her  bones  from 
Alexandria  to  the  Convent  of  Sinai,  that  they  might  en¬ 
rich  it  with  such  an  invaluable  treasure ;  and  Alban  But¬ 
ler*  adopts  this  interpretation,  adding  that  monks,  “on 
account  of  their  heavenly  purity  and  functions,  were  an¬ 
ciently  called  ‘  angels.’  ”  The  legend  of  St.  Catharine 
has  its  antecedents  in  the  Egyptian  myth  of  the  transfer 
of  the  corpse  of  Osiris  from  the  banks  of  the  Nile  to 
Mount  Lebanon,  and  in  other  heathen  fables. f  It  is  the 
Greek  pendent  to  the  Latin  legend  of  the  miraculous 

*  Lives  of  Saints,  sub.  Nov.  25.  t  See  Ebers,  p.  281  seq. 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


1 86 

transportation  of  the  house  of  the  Virgin  Mary  from  Naz¬ 
areth  to  Loretto,  in  Italy.  A  skeptical  Protestant  may 
take  comfort  from  the  fact  that,  in  rejecting  the  Eastern 
miracle  he  is  supported  by  the  Latins,  and  in  rejecting 
the  Western  miracle  he  is  supported  by  the  Greeks. 

If  the  system  of  monasticism  commends  itself  as  a 
benevolent  institution  anywhere,  it  is  on  the  Alpine  pass¬ 
es  of  the  Great  St.  Bernard,  the  St.  Gotthard,  and  the 
Simplon,  and  in  this  “  great  and  terrible  wilderness,” 
where  human  enterprise  and  skill  find  no  inducement 
and  reward,  and  where  Christian  charity  alone  can  pro¬ 
vide  the  necessary  shelter  and  comfort  to  the  weary  trav¬ 
eller.  Unlike  the  monks  of  Mar  Saba,  those  of  St.  Cath¬ 
arine  are  not  “  too  holy  to  exercise  hospitality,”  and  even 
to  admit  ladies.  Formerly,  when  they  were  exposed  to 
constant  attacks  from  the  wandering  Arabs,  they  drew 
strangers  in  a  basket  to  the  window  at  the  top  of  the 
wall;  now,  since  they  are  under  the  protection  of  Russia, 
they  admit  them  through  the  gate  on  presentation  of  a 
permit  from  the  patriarch  in  Cairo.  The  reception-room 
is  large,  and  provided  with  a  table,  three  divans,  and  a 
bed.  The  monks  at  once  offer  simple  refreshments,  cool¬ 
ing  water,  dark  bread,  dates,  or  coffee,  and  date  brandy 
(‘araki),  also  little  bottles  of  manna,  as  a  memorial  of  the 
miraculous  food  of  the  Israelites.  They  have  no  fixed 
prices,  but  expect  a  liberal  reward,  and  after  you  have 
paid  them  in  solid  gold,  they  demand,  before  departure,  a 
contribution  “  for  the  poor  Arabs  ”  whom  they  have  to 
support,  and  they  hope  to  receive  backsheesh  in  addition. 
I  could  not  but  smile  when  I  read  in  their  record  of  vis- 


THE  CONVENT  OF  ST.  CATHARINE.  187 


itors  the  high  commendations  of  travellers,  and  then 
good-naturedly  added  my  own  acknowledgment  of  hospi¬ 
tality  dearly  rewarded.  But  in  such  a  place  and  under 
such  circumstances  the  money  is  cheerfully  paid  and 
usefully  employed.  It  is  only  once  in  a  man’s  lifetime 
that  he  visits  Mount  Sinai.  It  would  be  unreasonable  to 
expect  the  attention  of  monks  for  nothing.  They  must 
live,  as  well  as  other  people,  and  no  one  is  more  indebted 
to  them  than  travellers  who  find  shelter  under  their  roof. 
I  was  glad  to  find  in  the  book  the  names  of  American 
friends — Drs.  Chambers,  Strong,  Ridgaway,  and  Bart¬ 
lett — who  visited  Sinai  in  1874,  and  others.  Those  of 
Drs.  Hitchcock,  Smith,  and  Park,  who  were  there  in  1870, 
I  looked  for  in  vain.  We  did  not  lodge  in  the  Convent, 
but  in  our  tent  a  little  distance  below,  and  had  the  pleas¬ 
ure  of  spending  an  evening  over  the  tea-table  with  two 
heroic  English  ladies  (Miss  Brocklehurst  and  Miss  Booth), 
whom  we  also  met  the  next  day  on  the  top  of  Jebel 
Musa. 

The  Convent  of  Mount  Sinai  is  a  real  oasis  in  the 
desert,  by  the  traditional  sites  of  the  Well  of  Jethro  and 
the  Burning  Bush.  Its  gardens — about  twenty  in  num¬ 
ber,  within  a  circumference  of  five  or  ten  miles — produce 
vines  and  vegetables  and  excellent  fruit-trees  (apricot, 
peach,  fig,  pomegranate,  olive,  pear).  The  building  is 
both  a  monastery  and  a  fort,  encompassed  by  thick  and 
lofty  granite  walls,  with  some  towers  and  a  variety  of 
structures  of  different  ages  and  styles  of  architecture, 
without  unity  and  symmetry.  It  is  a  curious  labyrinth. 
It  includes  a  Byzantine,  gorgeously  over-decorated  church, 


i88 


BIBLE  LANDS, 


where  Greek  mass  is  said  four  times  a  day ;  the  Chapel 
of  the  Burning  Bush,  where  Jehovah  appeared  to  Moses 
(the  bush  is  gone,  the  memorial  light  is  kept  burning)  ;  a 
subterranean  chamber,  containing  three  thousand  skulls 
and  bones  of  departed  monks  (a  horrible  sight) ;  the  cells 
and  workshops  of  the  monks  ;  little  courts  ;  a  reception- 
hall  and  adjoining  rooms  for  travellers  and  pilgrims  ;  a 
library  ;  and,  strange  to  say,  a  little  mosque,  with  a  min¬ 
aret,  to  conciliate  the  good-will  of  the  surrounding  Arabs. 
The  monks  say  that  they  once  possessed  a  charter  from 
Mohammed,  signed  with  the  impression  of  his  own  hand, 
promising  them  perpetual  protection  and  immunity.  The 
church  contains  a  beautiful  mosaic  picture  of  the  Trans¬ 
figuration,  the  portraits  of  the  Emperor  Justinian  and 
his  wife  Theodora,  and  the  relics  of  St.  Catharine,  in 
a  costly  sarcophagus  presented  by  the  Czar  of  Russia. 
It  is  at  this  shrine  and  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Burning  Bush 
that  pious  pilgrims,  especially  from  Russia,  are  absorbed 
in  devotion,  and  feel  amply  rewarded  for  their  weary 
marches  over  the  burning  sand  of  the  desert. 

The  library  of  the  convent  has  considerable  interest 
for  scholars.  It  is  little  used,  but  put  in  better  order 
since  Tischendorf’s  last  visit,  in  1859.  contains  several 
hundred  written  and  printed  volumes,  mostly  in  the 
Greek,  some  in  the  Arabic,  some  in  the  Russian  lan¬ 
guage,  many  of  them  worm-eaten,  soiled,  and  torn.* 

*  Tischendorf  counted  five  hundred  manuscripts.  Ebers  sought  in 
vain  for  Coptic  manuscripts,  but  thinks  that  some  books  in  the  old  sacred 
Slavonic  dialect  are  worthy  of  examination  for  comparative  philology. 
Palmer  began  to  make  a  catalogue  of  the  Arabic  manuscripts,  but  was 
not  allowed  to  finish  it. 


THE  CONVENT  OF  ST  CATHARINE.  189 


Those  I  hastily  examined  are  ascetic  and  homiletic  trea¬ 
tises  of  Greek  fathers.  The  Codex  Aureus,  an  Evange¬ 
listary,  once  in  the  archbishop’s  room,  is  now  in  the 
church.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  copies  of  the 
Four  Gospels,  written  in  gold  uncial  letters,  in  double 
columns,  with  illuminated  pictures  of  the  Saviour,  the 
Virgin,  and  the  four  evangelists.  It  is  assigned  to  the 
eighth  century,  and  hence  not  of  much  critical  value. 
Of  modern  books,  I  saw  in  the  library  a  copy  of  the  fac¬ 
simile  edition,  in  four  volumes,  of  the  Codex  Sinaiticus, 
presented  by  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  Champollion’s  Pic¬ 
torial  Egypt  (a  gift  of  the  French  government),  and  a 
copy  of  Tischendorf’s  edition  of  the  Septuagint  (probably 
presented  by  him).  A  bust  of  the  present  Khedive  of 
Egypt  and  a  collection  of  photographic  views  were  also 
on  a  table. 

Twenty  years  ago  this  library  contained  a  literary 
treasure  of  inestimable  value,  the  most  complete  and 
probably  the  most  ancient  copy  of  the  whole  Greek 
Bible,  with  some  other  valuable  documents  (the  Greek 
Epistle  of  Barnabas  and  a  fragment  of  the  Greek  Her- 
mas).  It  is  written  on  parchment  in  large  uncial  letters, 
in  four  columns,  and  dates  from  the  middle  of  the  fourth 
century.  The  monks  were  ignorant  of  its  very  existence. 
It  took  a  German  scholar  to  find  it  out  and  to  rescue  it 
from  probable  ruin.  Dr.  Tischendorf  has  told  the  roman¬ 
tic  story  of  his  discovery  of  the  “  Codex  Sinaiticus,”  on 
three  successive  visits  :  first  in  1844,  when  he  found,  in  a 
basket  full  of  papers  destined  for  the  oven  of  the  convent, 
forty-three  leaves  of  the  Septuagint ;  then  in  1853,  when 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


190 

he  accomplished  nothing;  and  finally,  in  February,  1859, 
when,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Russian  Czar,  the  pro¬ 
tector  of  the  Eastern  Church,  he  obtained  the  priceless 
treasure.  He  was  permitted  to  carry  it  to  Cairo,  and  to 
copy  it  there  (working  day  and  night,  with  the  help  of 
Coptic  scribes)  ;  and  ultimately  secured  it  as  a  tribute  of 
duty  and  gratitude  to  the  Czar  Alexander  II.  I  heard 
the  story  twice  from  his  own  lips,  in  his  study  at  Leipzig, 
and  when  we  spent  a  few  days  together  at  Friedrichs- 
hafen.  He  was  the  happiest  theologian  I  ever  knew. 
He  never  got  over  the  intense  satisfaction  and  delight 
of  the  discovery  which  would  immortalize  a  man  of  far 
less  learning  and  merit  than  Tischendorf.  His  indom¬ 
itable  perseverance  in  the  search  and  subsequent  publi¬ 
cation  (in  three  forms)  is  almost  without  a  parallel  in  the 
history  of  literature.  He  lived  long  enough  (till  1874)  to 
utilize  this  and  all  other  important  sources  of  the  text  in 
the  critical  apparatus  of  the  eighth  edition  of  his  large 
Greek  Testament,  in  two  volumes  ;  but  the  Prolegomena, 
which  were  to  form  a  separate  volume,  are  left  to  a  young 
American  scholar  in  Leipzig  (Dr.  Gregory)  to  elaborate 
from  his  materials  and  other  contributions. 

The  Sinai  Bible  is  now  in  possession  of  the  Imperial 
Library  at  St.  Petersburg.  Thus  the  Russo-Greek 
Church  possesses  Codex  Aleph  (Sinaiticus) ;  the  Roman 
Church,  Codex  B  (Vaticanus)  ;  the  French  Church,  Co¬ 
dex  C  (of  Ephraem  the  Syrian)  ;  the  Anglican  Church, 
Codex  A  (Alexandrinus,  in  the  British  Museum)  and 
Codex  D  (in  Cambridge)  ;  while  Protestant  Germany  has 
none  of  the  most  famous  and  valuable  uncial  manu- 


THE  CONVENT  OF  ST.  CATHARINE.  191 


scripts,  but  has  done  more  than  any  other  nation  towards 
utilizing  all  of  them  for  the  cause  of  Biblical  learning. 

The  monks  feel  very  sore  at  the  loss  of  this  their 
greatest  literary  treasure.  They  positively  assert  that 
it  was  only  loaned  to  Tischendorf,  to  copy  it,  in  Cairo, 
and  that  it  was  finally  stolen  from  them.  They  deny 
that  the  emperor  of  Russia  ever  paid  them  a  copper  for 
it.  On  my  remonstrance  the  prior  admitted  that  the 
emperor  offered  to  pay,  but  that  they  refused  it,  and  de¬ 
manded  the  manuscript  instead,  though  in  vain.  I  dis¬ 
tinctly  recollect  that  Prof.  Tischendorf,  as  he  informed 
me,  recommended  to  the  Czar  to  give  the  Convent  a 
very  large  sum  for  the  book,  besides  the  new  costly 
shrine  for  the  bones  of  St.  Catharine  ;  and  it  seems  in¬ 
credible  that  no  reparation  should  have  been  made  for 
such  a  loss,  which  was  a  great  gain  to  the  Christian 
world  ;  for  these  ignorant  monks  could  never  have  made 
use  of  it,  and  Biblical  scholars  could  not  travel  to  Mount 
Sinai  to  examine  it.  Moreover,  Tischendorf  showed  me 
two  Greek  letters  of  the  Archbishop  Calistratos,  full  of 
Oriental  compliments  and  expressions  of  gratitude  to  the 
German  professor,  and  stating  that  the  Codex  Sinaiticus 
was  presented  to  his  majesty  the  Czar,  the  Autocrat  of 
all  the  Russians,  as  a  testimony  of  eternal  devotion.* 

It  is  not  impossible  that  patient  research  in  the  library 
may  result  in  some  other  literary  discovery,  although 
of  far  inferior  importance.  It  would  be  worth  while  for 

*  i)  nepiuvvfios  avTTj  jSiBXop  kSupijBTi  tip  evdei^iv  rrjp  aidtov  y/iiov  Kal  tov 
'Ziva  evyvufioavvrj^.  See  extracts  from  these  letters  in  Ebers,  pp.  375, 

376. 


192 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


a  Biblical  and  patristic  scholar  to  spend  some  weeks  in 
the  Convent  for  the  purpose.  But  their  experience  with 
Tischendorf  has  made  the  monks  very  cautious  and  sus¬ 
picious. 

There  are  at  present  only  thirty  monks  at  the  Con¬ 
vent,  which  is  said  to  be  very  wealthy.  They  seem  to 
enjoy  good  health  in  this  pure,  dry,  desert  air,  and  attain 
to  an  old  age.  They  lead  a  simple,  temperate,  idle,  mo¬ 
notonous,  and  stupid  life.  They  are  vegetarians,  and 
drink  no  wine,  but  are  said  to  indulge  occasionally  in 
date-brandy,  which  is  distilled  behind  the  kitchen.  They 
speak  Arabic  and  Greek.  One  only  spoke  Italian.  He 
is  an  intelligent  and  friendly  person,  who  guided  us  round 
and  acted  as  interpreter  with  the  others.  He  hails  from 
Corinth.  Another  conducted  us  on  our  ascent  to  Jebel 
Musa  and  Ras  Sufsafeh,  and  in  the  excursion  to  Wady 
Leja ;  he  was  kind  and  good-natured,  but  as  he  spoke 
only  Greek  and  Arabic,  we  could  not  easily  converse  with 
him.  Fie  seemed  delighted  when  we  repeated  the  beat¬ 
itudes  from  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  The  other  monks 
make  no  favorable-impression  as  to  intelligence  or  knowl¬ 
edge.  Some  are  sent  there  for  punishment.  Dean  Stan¬ 
ley  and  Professor  Palmer  censure  them  for  not  having 
converted  a  single  Arab,  or  made  a  single  contribution  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  geography,  the  geology,  or  the  his¬ 
tory  of  a  country  which  has  been  committed  to  their 
charge  for  thirteen  centuries.  I  asked  a  monk  why  they 
did  not  at  least  attempt  to  educate  and  civilize  the  Arabs, 
who  are  their  serfs,  if  they  dare  not  Christianize  them, 
under  the  Turkish  government.  He  replied:  “These 


THE  CONVENT  OE  ST  CATHARINE.  193 


Arabs  are  camels,  who  only  care  for  the  bread  of  the 
Convent.”  Still,  we  should  never  ungratefully  forget  that 
the  Convent  of  St.  Catharine  has  preserved  for  the  Chris¬ 
tian  world  the  only  complete  uncial  manuscript  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures. 

Before  we  leave  Mount  Sinai  we  will  add  a  brief  notice 
of  the  surroundings.  They  are  replete  with  silly  legends 
which  disturb  the  gravity  of  a  Protestant  traveller,  and 
yet  show  the  deep  local  impression  of  the  Mosaic  events. 

The  Convent  lies  between  Jebel  Musa  and  Jebel  cd 
Deir,  or  “  the  Mount  of  the  Convent.”  Dean  Stanley 
ascended  it,  and  found  there  on  the  highest  level  a  natu¬ 
ral  basin  thickly  covered  with  shrubs  of  myrrh,  which  he 
thought  best  suited  for  the  feeding  of  Jethro’s  flocks  in 
the  seclusion  of  the  mountain. 

Farther  north  lies  Jebel  Sona,  or  SeneJi,  which  retains 
the  old  Scripture  name,  and  looks  right  into  Er  Rahah 
and  Wady  esh  Sheikh,  and  might  set  up  a  plausible  rival 
claim  against  Ras  Sufsafeh,  but  it  is  far  less  impo¬ 
sing. 

We  spent  half  a  day  in  an  excursion  to  Wady  Leja 
and  Deir  el-Arba'in,  i.  e.,  “  the  Convent  of  the  Forty,” 
namely,  “  Martyrs.”  Starting  from  our  camp  below  the 
Convent,  we  pass  the  Hill  of  Aaron,  an  elevation  on 
which  the  golden  calf  was  erected  ;  then  a  hole  in  the 
rock  on  the  plain,  which  is  pointed  out  as  the  Mould  of 
the  Calf,  although  it  has  no  more  resemblance  to  a  calf 
than  to  any  other  animal ;  next  a  piece  of  rock  where  the 
Tables  of  the  Law  were  broken,  and  a  hole  in  which  they 
were  buried.  Then  we  turn  from  Er  Rahah  into  the 

n 


Bible 


194 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


narrow  Wady  Leja.*  It  has  an  abundance  of  water,  and 
was  once  filled  with  hermits.  Many  Sinaitic  inscriptions 
are  found  on  the  rocks.  We  soon  come  to  “  the  Rock  of 
Horeb','  which  Moses  smote  with  his  rod  and  made  a 
fountain  to  refresh  the  murmuring  Israelites  (Exod. 
17:6).  The  Arabs  call  it  Hagar  Musa,  “the  Stone  of 
Moses.”!  It  is  an  isolated  block  of  red  granite,  with 
twelve  crevices  on  each  side,  as  so  many  fountains  for 
the  twelve  tribes,  but  yields  not  a  drop  of  water  now.  It 
followed  the  Israelites  through  the  wilderness  and  re¬ 
turned  to  its  place !  It  is  thus  identified  with  “the  spir¬ 
itual  rock”  spoken  of  by  Paul,  who  means  Christ  (i  Cor. 
10  :4).  So  the  credulous  Greek  monk  informed  us  with¬ 
out  an  apparent  doubt.  The  place  is  also  shown  where 
the  earth  opened  its  mouth  to  swallow  up  Korah,  Da- 
than,  and  Abiram,  for  their  rebellion  against  Moses  and 
Aaron  (Numb.  16:31-33).  This  is  a  palpable  anachro¬ 
nism,  for  the  rebellion  of  Korah  occurred  in  Kadesh  in 
the  wilderness  of  Paran,  long  after  the  departure  of  Is¬ 
rael  from  Sinai  (Numb.  13  :  26). 

About  twenty  minutes  farther  south  is  the  convent  el- 
Arbaln  (or,  as  our  guide  called  it,  the  TeaaapuKovTa  fiaprvpes). 
It  is  dedicated  to  the  forty  monks  who  were  cruelly  mur¬ 
dered  by  a  robber  band  of  heathen  Arabs  in  the  year 
373  or  400.!  In  the  chapel  are  pictures  of  Christ,  the 

*  Probably  from  the  Arab  tradition  which  mentions  Safuzijah  (Zip- 
pora)  and  Ltga  as  the  two  daughters  of  Jethro.  Ebers,  pp.  336  and  580. 

t  See  a  picture  of  it  in  De  Laborde’s  Voyage  de  I' Arabic  P&tr6e,  p. 
68,  and  a  description,  in  Ebers,  p.  337. 

t  The  tradition  rests  on  good  foundation,  the  reports  of  Amonius 
and  Nilus  as  eye-witnesses.  See  the  extract  from  Nilus  in  Ebers,  p. 
345- 


THE  CONVENT  OE  ST.  CATHARINE.  195 


Virgin,  St.  Michael,  and  the  Forty  Martyrs.  The  build¬ 
ing  is  now  deserted,  but  undergoing  repairs  by  an  Ital¬ 
ian,  who  kindly  offered  us  coffee.  In  the  neighborhood 
are  five  orchards  and  olive-groves,  with  an  abundance 
of  fresh  water.  The  fruit  of  the  trees  is  said  to  be 
excellent.  From  Wady  Leja  the  ascent  of  Mount  Cath¬ 
arine,  the  highest  in  the  Peninsula  (8,526  feet),  is  made ; 
it  is  toilsome,  but  is  amply  rewarded  by  a  grand  panora¬ 
ma  over  this  world  of  desolation. 


196 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

FROM  MOUNT  SINAI  TO  HEBRON. 

The  Testimony  of  the  Wilderness  to  the  Truth  of 
the  Bible — The  Itinerary  of  the  Israelites — The 
Desert  of  the  Wanderings — The  Wady  esh  Sheikh 
— A  Mohammedan  Saint — Last  Sight  of  Serbal — 
Crossing  Jebel  Et  Tih — Nakhl — A  Bedawin  Fight 
— Approaching  the  Holy  Land — Gaza — Samson — 
The  Greek  Church — Protestant  Mission  Schools 
— From  Gaza  to  Hebron. 

A  VISIT  to  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula  goes  far  to  strength¬ 
en  one’s  faith  in  the  truthfulness  of  the  Mosaic  narrative 
against  the  attacks  of  skeptical  critics  who  have  never 
been  there.  A  recent  explorer,  who  accompanied  the 
English  Ordnance  Survey  Expedition,  closes  his  account 
with  the  statement  that  “not  a  single  member  of  the 
expedition  returned  home  without  feeling  more  firmly 
convinced  than  ever  of  the  truth  of  that  sacred  history 
which  he  found  illustrated  and  confirmed  by  the  natural 
features  of  the  Desert.  The  mountains  and  valleys,  the 
very  rocks,  barren  and  sun-scorched  as  they  now  are, 
seem  to  furnish  evidences  which  none  who  behold  them 
can  gainsay,  that  this  was  ‘  that  great  and  terrible  wil¬ 
derness  ’  through  which  Moses,  under  God’s  direction, 
led  his  people.”* 

P'rom  ‘Ayun  Musa  to  Mount  Sinai  we  can  verify  the 
account  of  Exodus  and  the  invaluable  itinerary  of  the 

*  Rev.  T.  W.  Holland,  in  The  Kcccvcry  of  Jcrnsalcin,  p.  429. 


FROM  MT.  SINAI  TO  HEBRON 


197 


thirty-third  chapter  of  Numbers  in  every  essential  fea¬ 
ture.  We  find  support  and  illustration  in  the  striking 
correspondence  of  the  present  localities  with  the  Biblical 
descriptions  and  the  character  of  the  events  which  took 
place  there.  The  wild  Arab  traditions,  too,  are  full  of 
recollections  of  the  great  Nebi  Musa,  and  testify  to  the 
indelible  impression  which  the  leader  of  Israel  made  on 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Peninsula  and  their  descendants 
to  this  day.* 

We  can  go  a  little  farther,  to  Hazeroth,  the  second 
permanent  encampment  beyond  Sinai.  It  may  without 
difficulty  be  identified  with  ‘Ain  Hudherah.  Professor 
von  Schubert,  and  afterwards  Dean  Stanley,  saw,  before 
arriving  at  Hudherah,  in  the  evening  and  morning,  the 
flight  of  innumerable  large,  red-legged  cranes  three  feet 
high,  with  black  and  white  wings,  literally  darkening 
the  sky,  in  striking  confirmation  of  the  incident  men¬ 
tioned  in  Numb.  11:31:  “And  there  went  forth  a  wind 
from  the  Lord,  and  brought  quails  from  the  sea  and  let 
them  fall  by  the  camp.”  We  can  also  follow  the  Israelites 
at  the  end  of  their  journey  when  they  moved  southward 
towards  the  Gulf  of  ‘Akabah.  We  can  identify  Ezion- 
Geber  {i.  c.,  the  giant’s  backbone).  Mount  Hor,  Edom, 
and  Moab.  As  to  Kadesh,  where  Israel  “  abode  many 
days”  (Deut.  i  :46),  where  Miriam  died  (Numb.  20:  i), 
and  whence  the  spies  were  sent  to  Canaan  (Numb.  13:3, 
26;  32:8),  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion;  Robinson 
and  Porter  locate  it  in  ‘Ain  el  Weibeh  in  the  neighbor- 

*  On  the  Mohammedan  history  of  the  Exodus,  compare  the  Appen¬ 
dix  of  Palmer,  IL,  pp.  533  seq. 


17* 


198 


BIBLE  LANES. 


hood  of  the  passes  of  Siifkah  and  Figreh,  immediately 
below  the  southern  border  of  Palestine  ;  Stanley  in  or 
near  Petra ;  Rowlands  and  Palmer  at  ‘Ain  Gadis  on  the 
border  of  the  Negeb  in  the  desert  of  Et  Tih,  about  fifty 
miles  south  of  Beersheba  and  forty  miles  west  of  ‘Ain  el 
Weibeh. 

The  thirty-eight  years  which  lie  between  the  first  and 
the  last  years  of  Israel’s  sojourn  in  the  Peninsula  are 
devoid  of  mighty  events  such  as  took  place  in  the  begin¬ 
ning  and  the  end.  It  was  a  period  of  punishment  and 
uncertain  wanderings,  a  record  of  murmurings  and  sor¬ 
rows.  The  rebellion  of  Korah,  the  death  of  Miriam,  the 
second  miracle  of  striking  the  rock,  and  the  sin  of  Moses 
which  excluded  even  him  and  Aaron  from  the  promised 
land,  are  almost  the  only  incidents  during  this  meagre 
period.  It  is  impossible  as  yet  to  identify  all  the  camp¬ 
ing-stations  mentioned  in  Numb.  33  :  17-35,  again  in 
ver.  41-48,  except  Mount  Hor,  Edom,  and  Moab.  Rit¬ 
ter,  who  mastered  every  source  of  information  down  tc 
his  time,  says  that  the  course  of  the  Israelites,  after  they 
had  received  the  law,  is  to  us  terra  incogfiita.  Stanley 
speaks  in  a  similar  way. 

Since  that  time  E.  H.  Palmer,  accompanied  by  C.  P'. 
Tyrwhitt  Drake,  in  behalf  of  the  Palestine  Exploration 
Fund,  has  wandered  on  foot  over  the  greater  portion  of 
the  Desert  Et  Tih,  Idumaea,  and  Moab  (1869-1870),  and 
published  the  results  of  his  researches,  with  valuable 
maps  and  illustrations,  in  the  second  part  of  The  Desert 
of  the  Exodus.  He  lays  much  stress  on  his  identification 
of  Kadesh  with  ‘Ain  Gadis,  as  forming  the  key  to  the 


FROM  MT.  SINAI  TO  HEBRON 


199 


movements  of  the  Israelites  during  their  wanderings. 
But  Kadesh  must  be  sought  on  the  “  uttermost  {i.  e.  the 
western)  border”  of  Edom  (Num.  20:14,  16)  and  not  very- 
far  from  Mount  Hor  (ver.  22  ;  33:37),  unless  we  distin¬ 
guish  (with  Reland)  two  places  of  that  name,  one  near 
Edom,  in  the  wilderness  of  Zin,  and  one  with  the  affix 
“Barnea”  (Numb.  32:8;  Deut.  2:14),  in  the  northern 
plateau  of  Et  Tib. 

The  Badiet  Et  Tlh,  i.  e.,  “the  Desert  of  the  Wander¬ 
ings,”  indicates  by  its  name  that  it  was  the  scene  of  the 
wanderings  of  Israel,  and  identical  with  “  the  wilderness 
of  Paran”  (Num.  10: 12  ;  12  :  26 ;  Deut.  i  :  i).  It  is  em¬ 
phatically  “that  great  and  terrible  wilderness”  of  which 
Moses  speaks,  Deut.  1:19.  Its  dreary  monotony  corre¬ 
sponds  to  the  comparative  emptiness  of  that  long  period  of 
punishment,  when  the  whole  generation  of  those  who  had 
emigrated  from  Egypt  and  witnessed  the  great  miracles 
in  the  western  and  southern  part  of  the  Peninsula,  died 
away ;  as  we  read  in  the  Prayer  of  Moses  :  “  We  are  con¬ 
sumed  by  thine  anger,  and  by  thy  wrath  are  we  troubled. 
Thou  hast  set  our  iniquities  before  thee,  our  secret  sins 
in  the  light  of  thy  countenance.  For  all  our  days  are 
passed  away  in  thy  wrath :  we  spend  our  years  as  a  tale 
that  is  told  ”  (Psa.  90  :  7-9). 

The  Desert  Et  Tih  is  a  vast  and  irregular  limestone 
plateau,  which  extends  along  the  southern  boundary  of 
Palestine  from  Gaza  and  the  Mediterranean  in  the  west 
to  the  Dead  Sea  in  the  east,  and  projects  southward  like 
a  wedge  into  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula,  as  this  itself  projects 
into  the  Red  Sea.  It  borders  in  the  north  on  what  is 


200 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


called  the  “Negeb,”  or  “  South  Country”  of  the  Bible 
(/.  e.,  the  country  south  of  Palestine),  with  the  pastures 
of  Gerar  (Gen.  lo  :  19 ;  20  :  i),  where  the  patriarchs  pas¬ 
tured  their  flocks.  It  is  walled  in  on  the  south  by  a 
chain  of  mountains  of  the  same  name.  The  Desert  Et 
Tih  is  dry  and  barren,  but  covered  more  or  less  with 
parched  herbage.  It  is  a  pasture-land,  as  distinguished 
from  an  agricultural  country,  and  becomes  more  fertile 
as  it  approaches  Palestine.  It  has  no  traces  of  former 
habitation  and  cultivation,  like  the  Serbal  and  Sinai  re¬ 
gion,  but  occasional  sepulchral  stone  circles,  which  re¬ 
semble  the  Druid  monuments  in  England  and  Scotland. 
It  was  no  doubt  in  a  far  better  condition  at  the  time  of 
the  patriarchs  and  Moses  than  ever  since. 

We  shall  now  briefly  describe  our  northern  route 
from  Sinai  to  Nakhl  and  Hebron  through  this  dreary 
desert.  It  would  be  far  more  interesting  to  take  the 
longer  route  to  ‘Akabah  and  Petra  if  the  war  among  the 
Bedawin  would  allow  it. 

We  leave  the  camp  below  the  Convent  of  Sinai,  and 
pass  through  the  long  Wady  esh  Sheikh,  the  king  of  the 
Wadys,  covered  with  shrubs  and  stunted  trees.  It  is 
called  after  the  Sheikh  Salih  (Nebi  Salih),  a  Mohamme¬ 
dan  saint  mentioned  in  the  Koran  as  a  venerable  and 
eloquent  patriarch.  A  rude  monument,  or  Weli,  is  erected 
to  him  at  the  dividing  line  of  the  road  to  ‘Akabah.  Here 
the  Towarah  Bedawin,  who  revere  him  as  their  ancestor, 
perform  their  devotions.  In  May  they  keep  a  festival, 
which  is  the  great  national  event  of  the  year,  and  con¬ 
sists  of  dromedary  races,  the  sacrifice  of  sheep,  and  feast- 


FROM  MT.  SINAI  TO  HEBRON. 


201 


ing,  and  winds  up  with  an  ascent  of  Jebel  Musa  and  an 
offering  to  the  Prophet  Moses.* 

On  the  next  day  we  come  once  more  in  sight  of  the 
majestic  Serbal.  In  crossing  Nukber-Rakineh,  a  high 
and  rugged  pass  of  Jebel  Et  Tih,  we  had  to  march  against 
a  fearful  hurricane,  which  several  times  blew  down  the 
poor  baggage-camels.  We  found  no  shelter  or  resting- 
place,  and  wondered  how  we  got  to  the  other  side  of  the 
mountain  to  the  fountain  Abu  Nuteighineh  and  into  the 
Wady  El  Arish. 

About  half  way  from  Sinai  to  Gaza  and  half  way  be¬ 
tween  Suez  and  ‘Akabah  is  Nakhl  (or  Nukhl),  an  Egyp¬ 
tian  fort,  manned  by  about  thirty  savage-looking  soldiers, 
for  the  protection  of  the  Mecca  pilgrims.  It  is  provided 
with  a  large  cistern,  and  surrounded  by  a  number  of 
Arab  huts  for  the  wives  and  children  of  the  soldiers. 
The  governor  received  us  very  politely,  took  us  over  the 
fort,  and  treated  us  to  figs,  raisins,  and  the  inevitable 
coffee  and  cigarette.  His  best  room  is  furnished  with 
carpets,  two  chairs,  and  a  few  cushions.  As  soon  as  we 
entered,  his  wife  ran  out  as  fast  as  she  could.  It  is  diffi¬ 
cult  to  imagine  a  more  dreary  place  for  residence  than 
on  this  dead  level  of  sand  and  gravel,  without  an  object 
for  the  eye  to  rest  upon. 

At  Nakhl  the  territory  of  the  Towarah  Bedawin 
ceases,  and  that  of  the  more  savage  Teyahah  begins. 
Palmer  represents  them  from  his  experience  as  a  set  of 
robbers,  who  pursue  plundering  with  a  profound  feeling" 

*  See  an  account  in  Palmer’s  The  Desert  of  the  Exodus.  I.,  202-204, 
and  Biideker’s  ^gypten,  I.,  ^44. 


202 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


of  conscious  rectitude  and  respectability,  like  those  Chal¬ 
deans  who  fell  upon  the  camels  of  Job,  carried  them 
away,  and  slew  his  servants  with  the  edge  of  the  sword 
(Job  I  :  17).  They  were  at  war  with  the  neighboring 
tribes  of  the  Terabin  and  Haiwat,  and  two  hundred  were 
reported  to  have  been  killed  or  wounded  on  both  sides. 
These  petty  fights  were  of  far  greater  interest  to  the  peo¬ 
ple  in  the  desert  than  the  impending  war  between  Russia 
and  Turkey.  The  sheikh,  a  commanding-looking  man, 
diverted  us  from  our  intended  route  to  Beersheba  and 
Hebron  (although  we  were  willing  to  run  the  risk  of 
danger),  and  made  us  pay  an  extravagant  sum  or 

$85)  for  permission  to  pass  through  his  territory  with¬ 
out  him.  The  governor,  who  listened  to  our  negotia¬ 
tions  over  the  supper-table,  made  many  polite  bows,  but 
did  nothing  whatever  to  protect  us  against  the  imposi¬ 
tion.  Perhaps  he  had  a  share  in  the  plunder.  We 
learned  that  on  the  previous  day  a  larger  party  of  Eng¬ 
lish  travellers,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Jansen  of  Chistle- 
hurst,  Murray  Anderson,  Rev.  Mr.  Selwyn,  and  others, 
were  imposed  upon  in  the  same  way.  It  is  but  due, 
however,  to  Mr.  Cook,  under  whose  protection  we  trav¬ 
elled,  to  say  that  his  agent  in  Jerusalem  (Mr.  Floyd)  read¬ 
ily  refunded  the  money. 

After  five  days  of  weary  marches  from  Nakhl  we  en¬ 
camped  on  the  rich  domain  of  the  Philistines,  within  a 
few  miles  from  Gaza,  and  spent  there  our  last  Sabbath 
in  the  wilderness.  The  dragoman  in  the  mean  time  rode 
to  Gaza  and  telegraphed  to  Jerusalem  for  horses.  To  be 
even  within  the  reach  of  a  telegraph  is  like  passing  from 


FROM  MT.  SINAI  TO  HEBRON.  203 

midnight  to  the  light  of  day ;  but  it  is  almost  the  only 
siOT  of  modern  civilization  in  Turkish  dominions.  We 
were  agreeably  surprised  in  camp  by  a  visit  from  some 
of  the  English  party  above  alluded  to,  who  met  our  drag¬ 
oman  at  Gaza  and  returned  with  him.  They  informed 
us  of  their  adventures  in  the  wilderness,  their  disappoint¬ 
ment  in  not  seeing  Petra,  although  they  had  paid  a  por¬ 
tion  of  the  extra  backsheesh,  and  of  their  indignation  at 
the  conduct  of  the  sheikh  at  Nakhl,  They  told  us,  to 
our  surprise,  that  they  and  we  were  reported  to  be  killed 
or  imprisoned  by  the  Bedawin,  and  that  Mr.  Cook’s  agent 
had  requested  the  Pasha  of  Jerusalem  to  send  a  force 
after  us.  These  false  reports  arose  from  the  wars  among 
various  tribes  at  the  time.  But  all  we  saw  of  the  war 
was  some  armed  Bedawin  going  to  and  returning  from 
the  scene  of  action. 

We  are  now  on  the  very  borders  of  the  Holy  Land, 
which  once  was  flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  The 
heart  beats  higher  and  higher  in  anxious  expectation, 
and  we  greet  with  joy  the  multiplying  indications  of 
fertility  and  industry.  We  part  with  regret  from  our 
faithful  Towarah  Arabs  who  had  accompanied  us  on  the 
whole  journey  from  Suez,  but  we  feel  happy  and  thank¬ 
ful  for  our  deliverance  from  the  barren  desert. 

Gaza  is  an  Arab  town  of  about  15,000  inhabitants. 
It  lies  in  a  very  fertile  region,  two  miles  from  the  sea¬ 
shore.  It  is  the  place  where  Samson,  the  Hercules  of 
Jewish  history,  took  his  last  revenge  on  the  Philistines. 
Two  pillars  of  granite,  which  he  is  said  to  have  pulled 
down,  destroying  himself  and  3,000  enemies  assembled 


204 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


at  a  feast,  are  still  shown.  The  Moslems  are  proud  of 
him,  and  claim  him  as  one  of  their  own  faith,  although 
he  lived  two  thousand  years  before  Mohammed.  We  saw 
the  mosque,  which  is  an  old  Christian  church,  the  Greek 
church  and  school,  and — what  interested  us  most — three 
Protestant  schools  for  boys  and  girls,  which  Mr.  W. 
Pritchett,  an  aged  and  palsied  Englishman,  established 
from  pure  Christian  benevolence.  The  old  gentleman 
could  not  .speak  a  word  without  trembling  all  over,  and 
yet  he  kept  no  servant.  His  teachers  are  two  ladies 
from  the  schools  of  the  late  Mrs.  Thomson  in  Beirut,  and 
Salih  Nassar,  a  pupil  of  the  noble  Dr.  Calhoun  of  Mt.  Leb¬ 
anon,  who  died  in  America  in  Dec.,  1876;  he  spoke  of 
his  teacher  in  most  grateful  terms,  and  was  moved  to  tears 
when  I  informed  him  of  his  death.  The  Arab  children 
delighted  us  with  singing  “  Rock  of  ages  cleft  for  me.” 
At  Gaza  we  also  saw,  in  the  telegraph-ofifice  kept  by  an 
Englishman,  the  “  Weekly  London  Times,”  which  was 
quite  a  luxury  after  a  month’s  hunger  for  news. 

As  soon  as  our  horses  and  mules  arrived  we  started 
for  Beit  Jibrin  (the  ancient  Eleutheropolis),  where  we 
again  met  with  our  English  friends  in  a  pleasant  evening 
chat,  and  on  the  next  day  for  Hebron.  We  were  obliged 
to  make  a  detour  to  avoid  the  warring  Bedawin.  We 
passed  over  rolling  wheat-fields  and  stony  hills,  and  saw 
ploughs  worked  by  cows  and  camels.  The  hill-country 
between  Beit  Jibrin  and  Hebron  is  naturally  very  beau¬ 
tiful  and  fertile,  but  needs  running  brooks  and  trees.  A 
ride  of  two  days  brought  us  from  Gaza  to  Hebron. 


THIRD  PART. 

THE 

Holy  Land. 


IS 


1 


i 

i 


-  c 


1  \L 

'  V  )■ 


■ft 


y 


THIRD  RA.RT. 


The  Holy  Land. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

HEBRON. 

First  Impressions  of  Palestine  —  Scripture  Remi¬ 
niscences — A  jraham’s  Oak — Hebron,  the  City  of 
Abraham  and  David  —  The  Great  Mosque — The 
Machpelah  —  Recent  Disclosures  —  Mussulman 
Fanaticism — An  Assault  and  a  Satisfaction — The 
Hills  of  Judah — Solomon’s  Pools—From  Hebron 
to  Jerusalem. 

Coming  from  a  forty  years’  wandering  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness,  Palestine  was  indeed  to  the  Israelites  a  land  of 
promise  flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  Though  fearfully 
desolate  and  neglected  now,  we  can  even  yet  everywhere 
see  the  traces  of  its  former  prosperity  and  its  capacities 
for  a  future  resurrection  under  a  better  government  and 
with  a  better  population.  Its  climate  and  natural  fertil¬ 
ity  are  unsurpassed  ;  its  hills  and  valleys  make  it  a  beau¬ 
tiful  country,  a  sort  of  Switzerland  or  Wales  of  the  East ; 
while  its  historical  significance,  as  the  classical  soil  of 
revelation  and  the  birthplace  of  the  only  true  and  universal 


208 


BIBLE  LANDS, 


religion,  raises  it  above  the  most  highly  favored  coun¬ 
tries  of  the  globe.  The  disproportion  of  its  small  size  to 
its  historical  greatness  reminds  one  of  Greece.  Its  length 
from  Beersheba  in  the  south  to  Dan  in  the  north  is  only 
about  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles,  its  breadth  from  the 
Jordan  to  the  sea  not  much  more  than  fifty  miles  ;  and 
yet  this  little  country  has  done  more  for  the  religious  and 
moral,  as  Greece  has  done  more  for  the  intellectual,  prog¬ 
ress  of  mankind  than  the  vast  empires  of  Assyria,  Babylo¬ 
nia,  Persia,  and  Rome.  The  isolation  of  Palestine  from 
idolatrous  countries  by  sea  and  desert  was  favorable  to 
the  development  of  the  pure  monotheistic  religion  ;  while 
its  central  location  between  three  continents  looked  to 
the  universal  destination  and  spread  of  the  gospel  which 
was  born  there. 

My  first  impressions  in  reaching  Palestine  from  the 
Desert  and  in  travelling  on  its  southern  border  from 
Gaza  to  Hebron  may  be  briefly  summed  up  in  these 
points  ;  (i)  the  natural  beauty  and  fertility  of  the  country; 
(2)  the  Swiss-like  character  of  the  landscape  ;*  (3)  the 
abundance  of  variegated  wild  flowers  and  of  grain  fields  ; 
(4)  the  absence  of  rivers  and  trees  ;  (5)  the  want  of  roads, 
carriages,  wagons,  wheelbarrows,  and  every  trace  of  a 
good  government  and  enterprising  population;  (6)  the 
serai-barbarous  character  and  condition  of  the  inhabitants, 
both  Moslems  and  nominal  Christians  ;  (7)  the  richness  of 
Scripture  reminiscences  and  illustrations,  which  multiply 

*  Miss  Martineau  and  Dean  Stanley,  hailing  from  England,  were 
struck  “  by  the  Western,  almost  the  English,  character  of  .he  scenery,” 
and  were  reminded  of  the  Lowlands  of  Scotland  and  Wales. 


HEBRON  :  THE  MOSQUE  AND  PART  OF  THE  TOWN. 


GETHSEMANE,  AND  MOUNT  OF  OLIVES. 


•  I  ■  ’ 

r  I  ] 

*  K  -  ' 

i.'-  •>i. 

- 

■  -  4 

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':.  '  *  > 

•r 

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«i|E^^‘'.- 

^  *  -X 


HEBRON. 


209 


as  we  proceed.  The  ruins  of  cities  on  the  hills  rerrnnd 
us  of  the  “  city  that  is  set  on  a  hill  and  cannot  be  hid  ” 
(Matt.  5  : 14).  The  luxuriant  vineyards  and  fig-trees  at 
Hebron  recall  the  grapes,  pomegranates,  and  figs  which 
the  spies  brought  from  Hebron  and  the  valley  or  the 
brook  of  Eshcol  to  the  camp  of  Israel  in  Kadesh-Bar- 
nea  (Numb.  13  :  22-25)  >  as  we  see  the  walls  around 
the  vineyards  and  the  watch-towers  in  the  corner  for  the 
guard,  we  have  a  striking  illustration  of  the  parable  of 
the  vineyard  (Matt.  21  : 33).  The  Land  is  a  commentary 
on  the  Book. 

Before  we  reach  Hebron  coming  from  Gaza,  we  turn 
off  the  main  road  to  see  the  famous  Oak  (or  Terebinth) 
OF  Abraham,  about  two  miles  west  of  the  city.  It  has 
often  been  photographed.  It  is  a  truly  majestic  and  ven¬ 
erable  tree,  more  venerable  than  any  in  the  world  except 
the  olive-trees  of  Gethsemane.  Its  trunk  measures  thirty- 
two  feet  in  circumference.  Its  crown  divides  into  four 
colossal  branches  spread  out  like  wings.  It  is  now  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  stone  wall  and  owned  by  the  Russians,  who 
bought  the  surrounding  field  and  built  a  fine  hospice  on 
the  hill  above.  Already  in  the  time  of  Josephus  there 
was  shown,  six  furlongs  from  the  city,  “  a  very  large  turpen¬ 
tine-tree,  which  has  continued  ever  since  the  creation  of 
the  world.”*  Here  “in  the  plains”  (or  rather,  “the  oaks”) 
“of  Mamre”  father  Abraham  courteously  received  and 
hospitably  entertained  the  three  mysterious  visitors  “  un¬ 
der  the  tree,”  in  front  of  the  tent,  and  was  informed  of 

*  See  Bello  Jud.  Book  IV.,  chap.  9,  §  7.  Josephus,  however,  does  imt 
connect  it  expressly  with  Abraham. 

18* 


210 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


the  future  birth  of  Isaac,  the  son  of  promise  (Genesis 
1 8  :  2-9).  From  here  he  accompanied  the  strangers  to  a 
hill  from  which  he  could  look  upon  Sodom  and  Gomor¬ 
rah,  and  interceded  with  the  Lord  for  the  doomed  cities, 
but  in  vain,  because  not  even  ten  righteous  persons  could 
be  found  there  (23-33).  And  early  in  the  morning,  coming 
to  the  place  where  he  stood  before  the  Lord,  “he  looked 
toward  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  toward  all  the  land  of 
the  plain,  and  beheld,  and  lo,  the  smoke  of  the  country 
went  up  as  the  smoke  of  a  furnace”  (Gen.  19  ;  27,  28). 

Hebron  is  mentioned  about  forty  times  in  the  Old 
Testament,  but  nowhere  in  the  New.  Like  Damascus, 
it  carries  us  back  to  the  days  of  Abraham,  as  one  of  the 
most  ancient  cities  of  the  world.  It  was  built  seven  years 
before  Zoan  or  Tanis,  the  capital  of  the  Shepherd  Kings 
in  Egypt  (Numb.  13:22).  It  is  the  city  of  Abraham, 
“  the  friend  of  God  ”  (Jas.  2  :  23),  and  in  honor  of  him  the 
Arabs  call  it  El Khulil  i.e.,  “the  Friend”(of  Allah).  Here 
he  built  an  altar  unto  the  Lord,  and  walked  and  com¬ 
muned  with  him  (Gen.  13:18).  Here  he  bought  from 
Ephron  the  Hittite  the  cave  and  field  of  Machpelah,  as 
the  final  resting-place  for  his  family.  Here  the  patri¬ 
archs  spent  a  large  part  of  their  lives.  Here  David 
reigned  over  Judah  seven  years  and  six  months  before  he 
became  sovereign  of  the  whole  land  and  removed  his  res¬ 
idence  to  Jerusalem  (2  Sam.  5  ;  5).  Here  is  the  pool  over 
which  he  hanged  up  the  murderers  of  his  rival  Ishbo- 
sheth  (2  Sam.  4:  12).  Here  he  no  doubt  composed  some 
of  his  psalms  which  still  kindle  the  devotions  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  of  God  all  over  the  world.  Hebron  is  one  of  the  four 


HEBRON. 


21 1 


holy  cities  of  Islam  (with  Mecca,  Medinah,  and  Jerusa¬ 
lem)  and  of  Judaism  (with  Jerusalem,  Safed,  and  Tibe¬ 
rias).  It  is  situated  at  the  foot  of  a  hill  in  a  well-watered 
and  fertile  valley,  usually  supposed  to  be  the  Valley  of 
Eshcol  (the  Valley  of  Grapes),  unless  this  is  to  be  sought 
further  south  near  Beersheba.*  It  is  surrounded  by  vine¬ 
yards,  olive  groves,  almond,  apricot,  and  fig  trees.  It  lies 
3,029  feet  above  the  sea,  about  twenty  miles  or  seven 
hours’  ride  south  of  Jerusalem.  It  passed  into  the  pos¬ 
session  of  Islam  in  the  seventh  century.  During  the 
Crusades  it  was  for  a  short  time  (1167  to  1187)  the  seat 
of  a  Latin  bishopric,  but  after  the  disastrous  defeat  of  the 
Crusaders  at  Tiberias  in  1187  it  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Saladin,  and  has  since  been  a  hot-bed  of  Mohammedan 
insolence  and  fanaticism.  Its  eight  or  ten  thousand  in¬ 
habitants  are  all  Moslems,  with  the  exception  of  five  hun¬ 
dred  Jews.  There  is  not  a  single  Christian  family  there. 
The  inhabitants  manufacture  water-skins  from  goats’ 
hides,  lamps,  and  colored  glass  rings  for  female  orna¬ 
ments.  As  the  Mohammedans  drink  no  wine,  they  dry 
the  grapes  and  sell  large  quantities  of  raisins,  or  they  boil 
the  juice  into  debs,  a  kind  of  thick  grape  molasses,  which 

*  See  Numb.  13:22-25;  32:9;  Deut.  i  :  24.  It  is  uncertain  whether 
the  valley  and  the  brook  of  Eshcol  a  bunch,  a  cluster,  especially  of 

grapes)  derived  the  name  from  Eshcol,  the  brother  of  Mamre  the  Amo- 
rite,  and  one  of  the  four  chieftains  who  accompanied  Abraham  in  his  pur¬ 
suit  of  the  four  robber-kings  (Gen.  14  :  13,  14),  or  whether  he  derived  it 
from  the  valley.  It  certainly  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  Hebron.  Rob¬ 
inson  says,  “  This  valley  is  generally  assumed  to  be  the  Eshcol  of  the  Old 
Testament,  whence  the  spies  brought  back  the  cluster  of  grapes  to  Kadesh ; 
and  apparently  not  without  reason.  The  character  of  its  fruit  still  corre¬ 
sponds  to  its  ancient  celebrity,  and  pomegranates  and  figs,  as  well  as  apri¬ 
cots,  quinces,  and  the  like,  still  grow  there  in  abundance.” 


212 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


is  often  mentioned  in  the  Bible  under  the  kindred  name 
of  debash.  The  houses  are  built  of  stone,  and  many  have 
domes  as  at  Jerusalem. 

The  most  important  building  is  the  Great  Mosque 
(Haram),  a  massive  and  imposing  but  gloomy  structure, 
about  200  feet  long  by  150  (according  to  Tristram,  115) 
feet  wide,  and  upwards  of  50  feet  high,  with  two  minarets. 
It  is  surrounded  by  the  dwellings  of  dervishes  and  the 
forty  hereditary  guardians  of  the  mosque.  The  high  wall 
is  supposed  to  date  from  the  time  of  David  or  Solomon. 
The  mosque  itself  was  probably  a  Byzantine  church,  like 
the  Great  Mosque  of  Damascus,  the  Mosque  of  Omar  in 
Jerusalem,  and  St.  Sophia  in  Constantinople.  It  owns 
some  of  the  best  lands  in  Philistia  and  in  the  plains  of 
Sharon. 

But  the  object  of  greatest  interest  in  this  mosque 
is  concealed  beneath  its  pavement.  It  is  “  the  double 
cave,”  or  Machpelah,  the  oldest  known  burial-place  in 
the  world.  Here  the  three  patriarchs  and  their  wives 
(except  Rachel,  who  is  buried  beneath  a  little  white 
mosque  near  Bethlehem)  sleep  till  the  morning  of  the 
resurrection.  Joseph’s  body,  too,  is  said  to  have  been 
removed  thither  from  Shechem,  near  Jacob’s  well,  where 
his  tomb  is  still  shown.  There  never  has  been  any  doubt 
about  the  identity  of  the  spot.  Such  caves  are  as  ever¬ 
lasting  as  the  hills  to  which  they  belong.  The  story  of 
Machpelah  is  singularly  touching.  With  what  solemnity 
and  carefulness  did  father  Abraham  acquire  this  his  only 
property  in  the  Holy  Land  from  his  heathen  friend 
Ephron,  and  make  it  sure  for  ever  by  that  first  legal  con- 


\p  OO'vi  onV'  •?**  ^ 


HEBRON. 


21 


SKETCH  PLAN  OF  THE  GREAT  MOSQUE  AT  HEBRON. 


Deep  black  lines  mark  the  ancient  Jewish  Wall.  Shaded  parts  unknown. 


I. 


2. 


10. 

11. 

12. 

13- 

14- 


Shrine  of  Abraham. 

“  “  Sarah. 

“  “  Isaac. 

“  “  Rebekah.  , 

“  “  Jacob. 

“  “  Leah. 

“  “  Joseph. 

“  “  two  Moslem  saints. 

Fountain. 

Raised  platform. 

Mihrab. 

Platform  for  the  muezzin. 
Aperture  leading  to  Cave. 
Minbar  (or  pulpit). 


A.  Steps  leading  to  outer  door. 

B.  Long  narrow  passage  of  easy 

steps,  bounded  on  the  left  Iry 
ancient  Jewish  wall. 


C.  Fountain. 

D.  Here  shoes  are  left. 

E.  Passage  chamber. 

F.  Mosque,  containing  two  Shrines. 

G.  Outer  court. 

H.  Cloister  of  arches,  with  domed 

roof.  The  Outer  Narthex. 

K.  Inner  Narthe.x. 

L.  Nave  of  Byzantine  church. 

M.  Room,  leading  to  two  Chambers 

containing  Shrines  of  Jacob 
and  Leah. 

N.  Do.  to  that  containing  Shrine 

of  Joseph. 

O.  Minaret. 

P.  Windows. 

Q.  Minaret. 

R.  The  Jawaliyeh  Mosque. 


214 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


tract  recorded  in  history  (Gen.  25  : 3-20).  The  scene 
comes  back  to  us  in  ail  its  circumstantial  details,  as  Dr. 
Thomson  shows  so  graphically  from  his  own  experience 
of  bargaining  among  the  Orientals  of  the  present  day.* 
How  simple  and  impressive  is  the  record  of  the  succes¬ 
sive  interments  of  the  patriarchal  families,  and  the  burial 
of  enmities  between  brothers  over  the  graves  of  their 
fathers :  first  Sarah  was  buried  (Gen.  23  :  19),  then  Abra¬ 
ham  by  Isaac  and  Ishmael  (25  :g,  10),  then  Isaac  by  his 
sons  Esau  and  Jacob  (35  : 27-29) ;  and  last  we  read  the 
dying  request  of  Jacob  in  Egypt :  “And  he  charged  them 
and  said  unto  them,  I  am  to  be  gathered  unto  my  people  : 
bury  me  with  my  fathers  in  the  cave  that  is  in  the  field 
of  Ephron  the  Hittite  for  a  possession  of  a  burial-place. 
There  they  buried  Abraham  and  Sarah  his  wife  ;  there 
they  buried  Isaac  and  Rebekah  his  wife  ;  and  there  I 
buried  Leah”  (49:29-31).  How  much  of  history,  how 
many  family  joys  and  family  griefs,  what  bright  hopes  of 
immortality  and  resurrection  were  gathered  in  that  spot ! 
How  strange  that  no  allusion  should  be  made  to  it  in  the 
later  books  of  the  Bible.  But  Josephus  mentions  beauti¬ 
ful  marble  monuments  of  Abraham  and  his  sons  in  He¬ 
bron,  and  Machpelah  was  always  regarded  as  one  of  the 
most  sacred  places  on  earth. 

From  the  time  of  its  permanent  Mussulman  occupa¬ 
tion  in  1187  to  1862,  the  mosque  was  most  jealously 
closed  to  all  but  Mohammedans,  and  the  Machpelah  is 
closed  still.  Previous  to  that  year  we  had  but  three  brief 
and  confused  accounts  of  stealthy  visits,  especially  by  a 

*  The  Land  and  the  Book,  Vol.  II„  p.  381  seq. 


HEBRON. 


215 


Spanish  renegade,  Ali  Bey.  Even  the  Mosque  of  Omar 
and  the  Mosque  of  Damascus  were  opened  to  foreigners 
before  that  of  Hebron.  At  last,  by  a  special  firman  of 
the  Sultan,  and  after  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  the  Prince  of 
Wales  was  admitted  to  the  interior  in  January,  1862,  the 
Marquis  of  Bute  in  1866,  and  the  crown  prince  of  Prussia 
in  1869. 

Dean  Stanley,  who,  together  with  the  Prussian  Con¬ 
sul,  Dr.  Rosen,  a  learned  archaeologist,  accompanied  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  has  given  us  a  very  interesting  account 
of  this  visit.*  From  it  we  learn  that  the  patriarchs  and 
.their  wives  have  separate  shrines,  enclosed  with  gates  or 
railings,  but  they  are  empty  cenotaphs  or  monuments  in 
honor  of  the  dead  who  lie  beneath.  The  shrines  of 
Abraham  and  Jacob  were  shown  to  the  visitors,  but 
not  those  of  their  wives.  When  the  gate  to  the  shrine 
of  Abraham  was  thrown  open,  the  guardians  groaned 
aloud,  and  their  chief  remarked,  “The  princes  of  any 
other  nation  should  have  passed  over  my  dead  body  soon¬ 
er  than  enter.  But  to  the  eldest  son  of  Queen  Victoria 
we  are  willing  to  accord  even  this  privilege.”  Then  he 
offered  an  ejaculatory  prayer  to  Abraham  :  “  O  friend  of 
God,  forgive  this  intrusion.”  Isaac’s  shrine  they  were 
not  permitted  to  enter,  for  the  singular  reason  that,  while 
Abraham,  who  interceded  for  the  wicked  inhabitants  of 

t  In  the  second  Appendix  to  his  Lectures  oji  the  History  of  the  fewish 
Church,  Vol.  I.,  p.  535  seq.  (New  York,  1863).  He  also  gives  the  ground 
plan  of  the  map,  drawn  by  Hon.  R.  H.  Meade  and  Dr.  Rosen  immediately 
after  the  visit  to  the  mosque.  We  have  reproduced  it  on  a  smaller  scale. 
Ferguson’s  account  is  contained  in  “The  Holy  Sepulchre  and  the  Temple 
at  Jerusalem.”  London,  1865. 


2i6 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  was  full  of  kindness  and  would 
overlook  an  affront,  Isaac  was  proverbially  jealous,  and 
might  resent  the  insult. 

The  most  sacred  and  interesting  part  of  the  mosque, 
the  dark  subterranean  cave  itself,  which  contains  the 
remains  of  the  patriarchs,  was  closed  to  the  distinguished 
visitors,  and  could  only  be  seen  through  a  small  hole  in 
the  pavement.  It  is  uncertain  whether  even  the  Mos¬ 
lems  enter  the  Machpelah.  Once,  they  say,  twenty-five 
hundred  years  ago,  a  serv'ant  of  a  great  king  entered, 
but  returned  “  blind,  deaf,  withered,  and  crippled.”  Since 
then  the  entrance  was  closed,  and  only  the  aperture  left 
open,  that  the  holy  air  may  come  up  and  a  lamp  be  let 
down  by  a  chain  upon  the  grave.  Stanley  suggests  as 
the  reason  why  neither  the  Mussulmans  nor  the  Chris¬ 
tians  have  ever  explored  the  cave,  that  it  \vas  no  place 
of  pilgrimage.  But  may  it  not  have  been  the  supersti¬ 
tious  fear  of  fatal  consequences  ? 

The  mystery  which  still  hangs  over  Macphelah  will 
be  solved  at  no  distant  day,  when  perhaps  the  embalmed' 
body  of  Jacob  will  be  brought  to  light. 

As  we  approached  the  mosque  and  looked  through 
the  crevices  of  the  dark,  huge  wall  of  enclosure,  we  had  a 
taste  of  Moslem  fanaticism  which  might  have  led  to  seri¬ 
ous  consequences.  Some  dervishes  and  other  devotees 
were  just  coming  down  the  steep  flight  of  the  exterior 
staircase,  and,  supposing  that  we  were  going  to  enter  the 
sanctuary,  looked  very  fiercely  at  us  ;  one  of  them  pushed 
me  back  with  a  violent  thrust  on  the  breast,  but  I  quietly 
stood  my  ground  and  asked  the  dragoman  to  inform  the 


HEBRON. 


217 


governor  of  the  fact.  We  walked  up  to  the  hill  behind 
the  mosque  pursued  by  the  fanatic,  and  amid  the  curses 
and  insults  of  the  children  we  made  our  way  to  our  tent 
near  the  Egyptian  quarantine  building.  About  an  hour 
afterwards,  as  we  sat  down  to  dinner,  the  governor’s  sec¬ 
retary,  a  tall,  commanding  Turk,  appeared  with  an  officer 
and  three  soldiers,  to  make  an  apology  for  the  violence 
committed  and  to  offer  us  his  protection.  He  assured  us 
that  he  had  put  the  offender  in  chains,  and  would  keep 
him  in  prison  as  long  as  we  desired.  We  asked  him  to 
let  him  run  the  next  morning  with  a  sound  warning.  He 
informed  us  that  he  had,  at  the  direction  of  the  Pasha  of 
Jerusalem,  sent  ten  soldiers  into  the  wilderness  to  deliver 
us  from  the  Bedawin.  When  we  told  him  that  we  were 
Americans  and  Englishmen,  he  was  delighted,  and,  signif¬ 
icantly  rubbing  his  forefingers,  he  exclaimed,  “  The  Turks 
and  the  English  are  one.”  A  strange  compliment.  He 
had  fought  with  the  English  against  the  Russians  in  the 
Crimean  war,  and  was  sure  of  their  help  in  the  conflict 
which  was  then  daily  expected  to  break  out.  He  left  the 
three  soldiers  to  watch  our  tent  all  night  (for  backsheesh), 
and,  after  a  long  smoke,  he  took  leave  with  the  profound- 
est  bows.  Had  we  thought  of  it,  we  might  perhaps  have 
obtained  permission  to  visit  the  interior  of  the  mosque  at 
which  the  offence  was  committed.  This  would  have  been 
the  best  reward  for  the  trouble.  We  broke  camp  early 
next  morning  without  further  disturbance,  except  a  little 
skirmish  of  our  high-spirited  and  well-armed  dragoman 
with  a  few  insolent  Moslems  on  camels. 

From  Hebron  to  Jerusalem  is  a  good  day’s  journey 
(PJble  LandB,  19 


2i8 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


(seven  or  eight  hours)  on  horseback.  The  road  is  rocky 
and  rugged,  and  impassable  for  wheeled  vehicles,  till  you 
reach  Bethlehem.  We  ride  over  the  barren  but  beautiful 
“  hill  country  of  Judaea”  (Luke  i :  39, 65),  where  David  wan¬ 
dered  in  the  days  of. his  persecution,  where  Mary  visited 
her  cousin  Elisabeth  and  sung  the  “Magnificat,”  the 
last  psalm  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  first  hymn  of  the 
New. 

The  first  resting-place,  after  a  ride  of  three  or  four 
hours,  is  “  Solomon’s  Pools,”  three  large  reservoirs  which 
supplied  Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem  with  water,  and  do  so 
still  to  some  extent,  although  the  aqueducts,  like  every¬ 
thing  else  in  Palestine,  are  in  a  deplorable  state  of  dilapi¬ 
dation.  I  was  informed  that  a  rich  and  benevolent  Eng¬ 
lish  lady  offered  a  large  sum  for  their  repair,  but  the  offer 
was  refused  by  the  stupid  Turkish  government.  Beside 
the  upper  pool  is  a  castle  and  khan  of  Saracenic  origin, 
now  occupied  by  the  guardian.  The  lowest  and  finest 
pool  (582  feet  long,  207  broad,  50  deep,  according  to  Por¬ 
ter)  is  partly  hewn  in  the  rock  and  partly  lined  with  ma¬ 
sonry.  A  stony  staircase  leads  down  to  the  water,  in 
which  we  took  a  refreshing  bath.  The  name  is  derived 
from  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes  (2:5,  6),  where  Solomon, 
among  the  vanities  of  pleasure,  mentions  “gardens  and 
orchards  ”  which  he  planted,  and  pools  of  water  ”  which 
he  made  “  to  water  therewith  the  wood  that  bringeth 
forth  trees.” 

An  hour’s  ride  brings  us  to  Bethlehem  ;  next  we  pass 
Rachel’s  Tomb  ;  then  the  Convent  of  Mar  Elias.  Here 
vve  get  the  first  glimpse  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  expecta- 


RACHEL'S  TOMB. 


HEBRON. 


219 


tion  rises  higher  and  higher  as  we  approach  the  holiest 
city  on  earth.  But  we  must  stop  a  few  hours  in  Betli- 
lehem,  the  first  place  in  Judea  where  the  reminiscences 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  are  blended.  Our  Sav¬ 
iour,  so  far  as  we  know,  never  was  south  of  Bethlehem, 
the  city  of  his  birth,  except  in  the  Flight  to  Egypt 
during  his  infancy. 


220 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

BETHLEHEM. 

Bethlehem  Ephratah  —  Rachel’s  Tomb  — Ruth  and 
Boaz — David  the  Shepherd  King— Micah’s  Proph¬ 
ecy — The  Incarnation — The  Shepherds  of  Bethle- 
lem  and  the  Wise  Men  from  the  East— The  Gloria 
in  Exeelsis — The  First  Martyrs — Modern  Bethle¬ 
hem —  The  Latin  Convent  —  The  Church  of  the 
Nativity  —  The  Holy  Crypt— The  Chapel  of  the 
Manger — The  Chapel  of  the  Innocents — The  Study 
of  Jerome — The  Latin  Bible — The  Grotto  of  the 
Shepherds — Protestant  Schools — Bethlehem  and 
Golgotha. 

“  Bethlehem  !  of  noblest  cities, 

None  can  once  with  thee  compare; 

Thou  alone  the  Lord  from  heaven 

Didst  for  us  incarnate  bear!”  prudentius. 

Bethlehem  (House  of  Bread)  is  as  familiar  to  us 
from  childhood-days  as  our  own  home.  At  every  Christ¬ 
mas,  that  festival  of  the  renewal  of  humanity,  the  hearts 
of  Christendom  are  gratefully  turned  to  the  birthplace 
of  our  Lord,  and  old  men  rejoice  with  little  children  over 
the  Gift  of  gifts,  the  Bread  of  Life  from  heaven. 

Bethlehem  is  one  of  the  oldest  towns  in  Palestine. 
It  was  known  to  Jacob  under  the  name  of  Ephrath  or 
Ephratah  (the  fruitful).  A  short  distance  from  the  place 
on  the  road  to  Jerusalem,  his  beloved  Rachel  gave  birth 
to  Benoni,  the  son  of  her  sorrow,  and  her  death  was  the 
first  consecration  of  Bethlehem  for  all  future  ages  (Gen. 
35:16-20;  48:7).  He  erected  a  pillar  on  her  grave, 


BETHLEHEM. 


221 


which  is  still  sacredly  guarded  by  the  Mohammedans  in 
a  little  white  mosque  on  a  hill,  from  which  can  be  seen 
the  town  and  the  surrounding  country.  Her  sorrow  was 
typical  of  greater  sorrows  at  the  birth  of  the  Man  of 
Sorrows  (Matt.  2  :  i8).  Bethlehem  next  appears  in  the 
charming  idyl  of  Ruth,  that  model  of  filial  affection  and 
devotion,  who  became  the  ancestress  of  David  and  of 
our  Lord.  Even  now  women  and  children  may  be  seen 
gleaning  after  the  reapers  in  the  grain-fields  of  the  fer¬ 
tile  valley  as  she  did  in  the  field  of  Boaz.  In  Bethlehem 
the  poet-king  and  hero  of  Israel  was  born,  and  tended 
bis  father’s  flock.  Here  he  was  anointed  by  Samuel ; 
here  he  may  have  composed  that  inimitable  psalm,  which 
represents  Jehovah  as  the  Good  Shepherd  feeding  his 
people  on  green  pastures,  and  leading  them  beside  the 
still  waters.  Travellers  still  refresh  their  thirst  at  “Da¬ 
vid’s  Well,”  a  deep  cistern  hewn  in  the  rock,  half  a  mile 
north  of  the  town.  When  in  the  cave  of  Adullam, 
David  longed  and  said,  “Oh,  that  one  would  give  me 
drink  from  the  waters  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem  that  is 
at  the  gate!”  (r  Chron.  11:15-19.)  To  Bethlehem 
Ephratah  the  prophet  pointed  as  the  birthplace  of  the 
Messiah,  who  shall  be  a  ruler  in  Israel  (Micah  5  :  2). 

But  what  shall  we  say  of  that  amazing  event  which 
forms  the  turning  point  in  the  history  of  mankind,  clo¬ 
sing  the  era  of  night  and  death,  and  ushering  in  the  era 
of  light  and  life }  Jacob  and  Rachel,  Ruth  and  Boaz, 
a’"d  David  himself  disappear  before  Him  who  was  David’s 
son,  and  yet  David’s  Lord.  With  unlettered  shepherds 
of  the  field  and  the  learned  sages  from  the  far  East  who 

10* 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


222 

followed  the  Star  of  Bethlehem,  we  bow  in  childlike  faith 
before  the  miracle  of  miracles,  “  the  great  mystery  of 
godliness,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.” 

“  Was  kein  Verstand  der  Verstandigen  sieht, 

Das  glaubet  in  Einfalt  ein  kindlich  Gemiith !” 

“What  a  mighty  influence  for  good,”  says  Dr.  Robin¬ 
son,  who  seldom  gives  vent  to  his  emotions,  “has  gone 
forth  from  this  little  spot  upon  the  human  race  both  for 
time  and  eternity  !  It  is  impossible  to  approach  the 
place  without  a  feeling  of  deep  emotion,  springing  out 
of  these  high  and  holy  associations.  The  legends  and 
puerilities  of  monastic  tradition  may  safely  be  disre¬ 
garded  ;  it  is  enough  to  know  that  this  is  Bethlehem, 
where  Jesus  the  Redeemer  was  born.  Generation  after 
generation  has  indeed  since  that  time  passed  away,  and 
their  places  now  know  them  no  more.  For  eighteen 
hundred  seasons  the  earth  has  now  renewed  her  carpet 
of  verdure,  and  seen  it  again  decay.  Yet  the  skies  and 
the  fields,  the  rocks  and  the  hills  and  the  valleys  around, 
remain  unchanged,  and  are  still  the  same  as  when  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  shone  about  the  shepherds,  and  the 
song  of  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host  resounded 
among  the  hills,  proclaiming  ‘  Glory  to  God  in  the  high¬ 
est,  and  on  earth  peace,  good-will  to  men.’  ” 

With  all  these  sacred  associations  crowding  upon  the 
memory,  and  with  beating  hearts  we  approach  modern 
Bethlehem  (Beit-lahm),  over  a  ridge  of  terraced  vineyards 
and  gardens  with  evergreen  olives  and  luxuriant  fig-trees, 
and  alight  before  the  stately  Latin  monastery,  which 
looks  like  a  mediaeval  fortress.  We  are  not  disappointed 


BETHLEHEM. 


223 


in  our  expectations.  The  scenes  of  nature  harmonize 
better  than  the  people  with  our  faith,  and  yet  they  con¬ 
trast  favorably  with  their  Moslem  neighbors.  We  are 
saluted  with  smiles,  and  not  with  scowls,  as  in  fanatical 
Hebron.  Bright  children  run  up  to  hold  our  horses 
and  offer  us  crucifixes,  beads,  bracelets,  and  sacred  pic¬ 
tures  for  sale.  A  kind-hearted  cowled  Franciscan  from 
Venice  politely  places  the  spacious  reception-hall  at  our 
disposal,  treats  us  to  some  simple  refreshments,  then 
shows  us  the  church  of  the  Nativity  and  the  subterra¬ 
nean  chapels,  and  dismisses  us  with  his  blessing. 

The  town,  like  Jerusalem  and  most  towns  in  southern 
Palestine,  is  built  on  a  hill.  It  has  an  air  of  industry, 
thrift,  and  comfort  which  are  very  rare  in  the  East, 
though  not  equal,  of  course,  to  a  town  of  the  same  size 
in  Europe  or  the  United  States.  German  industry  has 
of  late  greatly  stimulated  the  natural  fertility  of  the  soil. 
The  wine  of  Bethlehem  is  considered  better  than  that  of 
Jerusalem.  The  flat-roofed  houses  are  built  of  white 
limestone,  and  partly  cut  in  the  rock.  The  inhabitants 
number  about  5,000,  and  are  nearly  all  Christians  of  the 
Greek  Church.  The  Moslem  quarter  was  destroyed  by 
Ibrahim  Pasha  after  the  rebellion  in  1834.  The  people 
are  engaged  in  agriculture,  gardening,  and  the  manufac¬ 
ture  of  relics  and  sacred  ornaments  made  of  olive,  moth¬ 
er-of-pearl  and  Dead-Sea  wood.  They  have  a  restless 
and  rebellious  temper,  and  formerly  lived  in  frequent 
strife  with  their  neighbors  in  Hebron  and  Jerusalem. 

The  women  of  Bethlehem  have  the  reputation  of  supe¬ 
rior  beauty,  and  rival  in  this  respect  their  sisters  in  Naz- 


224 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


areth.  Theirs  is  the  Syrian  type  of  beauty :  dark  eyes, 
bright  faces,  noble  figures  and  graceful  carriage.  Some 
of  them  may  have  crusaders’  blood  in  their  veins.  It  is 
a  remarkable  fact  that  the  birthplace  of  Christ,  and  the 
home  of  his  childhood  and  youth,  though  dilapidated 
and  groaning  under  Turkish  misrule,  should  bear  witness 
to  the  superiority  of  Christian  women  over  all  other 
women. 

“To  this  day  the  fields  of  Bethlehem  illustrate  many 
an  incident  in  the  book  of  Ruth,  The  very  salutation, 
‘  The  Lord  be  with  you !’  and  the  reply,  ‘  The  Lord  bless 
thee !’  may  be  heard  as  the  farmer  goes  up  to  his  labor¬ 
ers,  The  supper  of  the  reapers,  when  the  day’s  work  is 
done,  is  still  the  parched  corn  eaten  on  the  spot — a  few 
bunches  of  fresh  ears,  singed  in  a  fire  kindled  for  the 
purpose,  and  then  rubbed  and  roughly  winnowed  by  the 
hand.  The  large  cotton  or  linen  cloth,  ‘the  veil,’  which 
binds  down  the  headdress  of  the  Bethlehemite  woman, 
is  very  distinct  from  the  female  dress  elsewhere,  and  is 
still,  like  Ruth’s,  large  enough  to  hold  six  measures  of 
barley ;  and  still  the  owner  sleeps  by  his  cornheaps  at 
night,  generally  with  all  his  family,  till  the  harvest  is 
finished.’’* 

Let  us  now  visit  the  traditional  holy  sites  which  are 
here  crowded  together  in  one  spot. 

“  The  Church  of  the  Nativity,”  or  of  St.  Mary,  the 
oldest  in  Christendom,  was  erected  by  Helena,  the  moth¬ 
er  of  Constantine,  A.  d.,  327,  on  the  site  of  a  khan  or 

*  From  Canon  Tristram’s  Bible  Places,  p.  74.  Compare  also  Thom¬ 
son,  The  Land  and  the  Booh,  II.,  p.  509  seq. 


BETHLEHEM. 


225 


inn  in  which  Christ  is  believed  to  have  been  born.  It  is 
the  common  property  of  the  Greeks,  Latins,  and  Arme¬ 
nians,  who  have  each  a  stately  convent  adjoining  it.  The 
four  rows  of  Corinthian  marble  columns  (said  to  have 
been  taken  from  the  temple  of  Jerusalem),  the  faded 
mosaics  on  the  wall,  and  the  roof  of  cedar-wood  from 
Lebanon,  betray  its  ancient  splendor.  Unfortunately 
the  jealousy  of  the  rival  sects  disgraces  the  building,  and 
a  Turkish  guard  must  keep  them  from  open  hostility. 
In  the  early  ages  of  persecution  the  heathen  were  forced 
to  exclaim,  “  How  these  Christians  love  one  another !” 
Now  they  have  reason  to  say.  How  these  Christians  hate 
one  another !  Even  our  saintly  monk  could  not  refrain 
from  heaping  abuses  on  the  Greeks,  to  whom  he  denied 
every  claim  to  the  sacred  edifice.  The  monkish  quarrels 
over  the  Holy  Crypt  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre  kindled 
the  flame  of  the  Crimean  war,  and  give  the  Eastern 
question  a  European  significance.  There  is  little  pros¬ 
pect  of  converting  the  Moslems  before  Christians  make 
peace  among  themselves  and  approach  them  with  the 
power  of  a  united  faith  and  a  conquering  love. 

We  descend  on  one  of  the  two  spiral  staircases  to 
the  “  Holy  Crypt,”  a  cave  in  the  solid  rock  twenty  feet 
under  the  great  choir.  It  is  the  holy  of  holies,  and  lighted 
by  ever-burning  lamps.  We  look  with  reverence  on  the 
marble  slab  with  a  silver  star  encircled  by  the  simple  but 
pregnant  inscription, 

“  Hic  DE  ViRGiNE  Maria  Jesus  Christus  natus  est.” 

It  is  by  no  means  impossible  that  this  grotto  was  the 


226 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


very  spot  of  the  Nativity.  It  seems  to  have  been  known 
already  two  hundred  years  before  Helena  built  the  church 
over  it.  There  was  no  doubt  only  one  inn  or  khan  in 
the  little  town,  and  Joseph  and  Mary,  unable  to  find  room 
in  the  overcrowded  tavern,  sought  temporary  refuge  in 
the  adjoining  stable  in  the  cave  and  laid  the  child  in  a 
manger.  We  say  temporary  shelter;  for  they  received 
the  visit  of  the  Magi  in  a  house  (Matt.  2:11).  In  the 
East  the  house  and  the  stable  are  often  under  the  same 
roof,  and  men  and  cattle  not  strictly  separated.  There 
are  many  natural  caves  in  Palestine,  which  afford  easy 
shelter  to  cattle,  and  are  used  as  stables.* 

We  try  to  enter  into  the  feelings  of  “  the  Wedded 
Maid  and  Virgin  Mother,”  and  to  realize  the  contrast 
between  the  “  Mater  gaudiosa  ”  at  the  cradle  of  the  infant 
Jesus  and  the  “Mater  dolorosa”  at  the  cross  of  the 
dying  Saviour. 

“  Stabat  Mater  speciosa 
Juxta  foenum  gaudiosa, 

Dum  jacebat  parvulus — 

Cujus  animam  gaudentem, 

Lcetabundam  ac  ferventem 
Pertransivit  jubilus.” 

•*  St  Luke  (2  12,  16),  speaks  only  of  “a  manger”  in  which  Marv 

laid  her  first-born  son,  “because  there  was  no  room  for  them  in  the  inn.” 
But  already  in  the  middle  of  the  second  century  Justin  Martyr  {Dial.  cn7n 
Tryphone  Jitd.,  yS),  who  was  a  native  of  Palestine,  mentions  that  Christ  was 
born  “in  a  grotto  {Iv  OTzri'Xaiij  nvi)  near  Bethlehem,”  and  Origen  in  the  third 
century  {Contra  Celsian  I.  51)  speaks  of  this  as  publicly  known,  so  that 
even  the  heathen  regarded  it  as  the  birthplace  of  Christ.  Dr.  Robinson, 
as  usual,  is  skeptical,  but  W.  Hepworth  Dixon  {The  Holy  Land,  1865,  ch. 
14),  ingeniously  pleads  for  the  traditional  cave,  and  tries  to  prove,  also, 
that  the  inn  of  the  Nativity  was  the  patrimony  of  Boaz  and  the  home  of 
David. 


BETHLEHEM. 


227 


We  are  also  shown  the  chapel  of  the  Praesepium  or 
Manger  (the  original  manger  was  long  ago  carried  to 
Santa  Maria  Maggiore  in  Rome),  the  station  of  the 
Magi,  the  chapel  of  Joseph,  and  the  chapel  of  the  Inno¬ 
cents  slain  by  the  wrath  of  Herod.  A  massive  column 
marks  the  spot  where  20,000  martyred  innocents  were 
buried.  This  is,  of  course,  an  absurd  exaggeration,  like 
most  of  the  monkish  legends.  But  I  thought  of  Matthew’s 
simple  narrative,  and  the  hymn  of  Prudentius,  “  Salvete, 
flores  martyrum  !”  Those  infant  martyrs  unconsciously 
bore  their  bloody  testimony  to  the  fact  of  the  incarnation, 
and  are  now  leading  the  countless  choir  of  saved  infants 
in  heaven. 

“  Hail,  infant  martyrs  !  new-born  victims,  hail ! 

Hail,  earliest  flowerets  of  the  Christian  spring ! 

O’er  whom,  like  rosebuds  scattered  by  the  gale. 

The  cruel  sword  such  havoc  dared  to  fling. 

The  Lord’s  first  votive  offerings  of  blood. 

First  tender  lambs  upon  the  altar  laid. 

Around  in  fearless  innocence  they  stood, 

And  sported  gayly  with  the  murderous  blade.” 

Whatever  be  the  claim  to  the  identity  of  these  partic¬ 
ular  spots  and  the  rubbish  of  superstition  which  has 
accumulated  over  them,  it  is  impossible  not  to  be  im¬ 
pressed  afresh  with  the  power  and  beauty  of  the  simple 
Scripture  account  of  that  Christ-child  who  has  been 
described  by  a  poetic  commentator  as  “  the  moving  centre 
of  the  world  setting  everything  in  motion attracting  all 
that  is  genial,  repelling  all  that  is  hostile ;  concealed,  yet 
well  known ;  hated  and  feared  by  the  bad,  yet  longed  for 


228 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


and  loved  by  the  good ;  despised,  yet  marvellously  honor¬ 
ed  ;  beset  with  danger,  yet  kept  in  perfect  safety. 

“Welcome  to  our  wondering  sight, 

Eternity  shut  in  a  span  ! 

Summer  in  winter  !  day  in  night ! 

Heaven  in  earth  !  and  God  in  man  ! 

Great  little  One,  whose  glorious  birth 

Lifts  earth  to  heaven,  stoops  heaven  to  earth.” 

About  one  place  beneath  the  same  church  there  can 
be  no  historical  doubt :  it  is  the  chapel,  once  the  study, 
of  St.  Jerome.  This  great  scholar  divided  his  life  between 
the  East  and  the  West,  his  enthusiasm  between  the 
Roman  classics  and  the  holy  Scriptures,  and  achieved  the 
double  crown  of  a  monastic  saint  and  a  church  father. 
He  was,  even  after  his  famous  dream,  a  Ciceronian  as 
well  as  a  Christian,  and  a  spicy,  ill-tempered  polemic  as 
well  as  a  humble  recluse.  He  is  fitly  represented  as  a 
penitent  in  a  reading  or  writing  posture,  with  a  lion  and 
a  skull.  Everybody  knows  Domenichino’s  masterpiece, 
“The  Communion  of  St.  Jerome,”  in  the  Vatican.  In 
the  subterranean  cavern,  close  by  the  cradle  of  the  infant 
Saviour,  he  spent  thirty  years  till  his  death  (a.  d.,  419). 
Here  he  completed  his  monumental  work  which,  far 
more  than  his  monkish  piety  and  all  his  other  books, 
entitles  him  to  the  lasting  gratitude  of  the  Church.  His 
improved  Latin  version  of  the  Bible,  called  the  Vulgate, 
gave  to  Western  Europe  in  the  dark  ages  when  Hebrew 
was  unknown  and  Greek  forgotten,  nearly  all  its  scanty 
knowledge  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  is  still  the  standard 
Bible  of  the  Roman  Church.  It  was  of  inestimable  value 


BETHLEHEM. 


229 


also  to  the  Reformers  and  Protestant  translators  of  the 
Bible  into  the  vernacular  tongues,  whereby  it  has  ceased 
to  be  merely  a  manual  of  the  clergy  and  become  what  it 
was  intended  to  be,  a  book  for  the  common  people,  for  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  Our  English  Bible,  if  we 
are  to  judge  from  the  innumerable  cases  where  the  defi¬ 
nite  article  is  disregarded,  seems  to  have  been  made  from 
the  Latin  Vulgate  rather  than  from  the  original  Greek 
and  Hebrew.  Even  for  the  Biblical  scholarship  of  the 
present  day  Jerome  retains  an  important  place  among 
the  indirect  witnesses  for  the  oldest  text  of  the  Greek 
Testament. 

In  the  fertile  plain  below,  about  a  mile  east  from  the 
convent,  on  a  green  slope  is  a  group  of  ruins  and  the 
grotto  surrounded  by  olive-trees,  where  the  angel  of  the 
Lord  is  said  to  have  appeared  to  the  shepherds  with  the 
glad  tidings  of  great  joy.  Over  those  fields  the  heavenly 
host  sung  the  first  Christmas  carol  which  was  to  resound 
through  all  ages  in  all  lands  of  Christendom : 

“  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest. 

And  on  earth  peace  among  men  of  his  good  pleasure.”  * 

The  holy  family  spent  about  two  months  in  Bethle¬ 
hem  ;  for  the  presentation  in  the  temple,  which  took  place 
forty  days  after  the  birth,  and  the  adoration  of  the  Magi 
who  probably  arrived  soon  afterwards,  must  have  occurred 
before  the  flight  to  Egypt,  where  they  remained  till  the 

*  Or,  “among  men  with  whom  he  is  well  pleased.”  This  is  the  old- 
cst  and  best-supported  reading  of  Luke  2 ;  14.  There  are  two  clauses, 

each  containing  three  ideas,  which  correspond  to  each  other :  glory _ 

peace  ;  to  God— among  men  ;  in  the  highest  (in  heaven)— on  earth. 

Bible  Lands.  20 


230 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


death  of  Herod,  and  then  returned  directly  to  Nazareth, 
their  proper  home  (Matt  2  :  22,  23). 

The  evangelical  missionary  zeal,  which  nearly  forty 
years  ago  founded  the  Anglo-Prussian  bishopric  in  Jeru¬ 
salem,  has  reached  Bethlehem.  A  flourishing  school, 
now  under  the  direction  of  a  pious  German  (Mr.  Muller 
from  Wlirttemberg),  has  been  established,  and  a  fine 
building  erected  in  1 864  by  the  yencsaleins-  Vercin  of  Ber¬ 
lin.  I  found  there  eighteen  pupils,  some  of  them  bright 
and  promising  and  well  versed  in  Bible  history.  Two 
other  schools  for  boys  and  girls  are  connected  with  this 
institution.  They  are  the  humble  cradles  of  a  better 
future  for  this  ever-memorable  spot. 

Bethlehem  is  only  six  miles  or  an  easy  two  hours’  ride 
south  of  Jerusalem.  The  birthplace  of  our  Lord  almost 
within  sight  of  Calvary !  So  birth  and  death,  joy  and 
grief  are  ever  near  each  other.  Bethlehem  and  Golgotha, 
the  two  most  sacred  spots  on  earth,  yet  more  sacred  the 
great  facts  and  eternal  truths  which  they  symbolize ! 
Happy  he  who  has  seen  them  with  his  eyes,  far  happier 
he  who  has  them  enshrined  in  his  heart,  in  whom  Christ 
is  born,  and  who  in  Christ  is  crucified  to  the  world  and 
alive  to  God ! 

“  In  Bethlehem  the  Lord  of  glory, 

Who  brought  us  life,  first  drew  his  breath; 

On  Golgotha,  O  bloody  story  ! 

By  death  he  broke  the  power  of  death. 

From  western  shores,  all  danger  scorning, 

I  travelled  through  the  lands  of  morning  ; 

And  greater  spots  I  nowhere  saw 
Than  Bethlehem  and  Golgotha. 


BETHLEHEM. 


231 


“  Where  are  the  seven  works  of  wonder 
The  ancient  world  beheld  with  pride? 
They  all  have  fallen,  sinking  under 
The  splendor  of  the  Crucified  ! 

I  saw  them,  as  I  wandered  spying. 
Amid  their  ruins  crumbled,  lying; 

None  stand  in  quiet  gloria 
Like  Bethlehem  and  Golgotha. 

“  Away,  ye  pyramids,  whose  bases 
Lie  shrouded  in  Egyptian  gloom. 
Eternal  graves  !  no  resting-places. 
Where  hope  immortal  gilds  the  tomb. 
Ye  sphinxes,  vain  was  your  endeavor 
To  solve  life’s  riddle,  dark  for  ever, 
Until  the  answer  came  with  awe 
From  Bethlehem  and  Golgotha. 

“  O  heart !  what  profits  all  thy  kneeling. 
Where  once  He  laid  His  infant  head, 
To  view  with  an  enraptured  feeling 
His  grave,  long  empty  of  its  dead  ? 

To  have  him  born  in  thee  with  power. 
To  die  to  earth  and  sin  each  hour. 

And  live  to  Him,  this  only,  ah  ! 

Is  Bethlehem  and  Golgotha.”* 


From  the  German  of  Friedrich  Riickert. 


232 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

JERUSALEM. 

Conflicting  Impressions— Sadly  disappointed,  yet 
deeply  impressed — Jerusalem  seen  from  Mount 
Olivet — Jerusalem  Pastand  Present — Population— 
Its  Cosmopolitan  Character  in  the  Easter  Season — 
The  Study  of  Ruins — The  Sights  of  the  City. 

“Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the  proph¬ 
ets,  and  stonest  them  that  are  sent  unto  thee,  how  often 
would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as  a 
hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye 
would  not !  Behold  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate.” 

This  was  my  first,  this  my  last  impression  of  Jeru¬ 
salem.  I  can  understand  the  traveller  who  said,  “  I  am 
sadly  disappointed,  yet  deeply  impressed  sadly  dis¬ 
appointed  as  to  the  present  condition  of  Jerusalem,  deep¬ 
ly  impressed  as  to  its  sacred  associations.  My  low  ex¬ 
pectations  of  the  former  and  my  high  expectations  of  the 
latter  have  been  fully  met. 

No  city  in  the  world  excites  such  opposite  feelings. 
It  is  the  most  holy  and  the  most  unholy,  or  I  should  say, 
the  most  desecrated  spot  in  the  world.-  “  Beautiful  for 
situation,”  sings  the  Psalmist,  “  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth, 
is  Mount  Zion,  on  the  sides  of  the  north,  the  city  of  the 

great  King.  God  is  known  in  her  palaces  for  a  refuge . 

Out  of  Zion,  the  perfection  of  beauty,  God  hath  shined.” 


JERUSALEM  :  FROM  MOUNT  OLIVET, 


:».V? 


;  v/><  -  •  _ 


jS»  K" 

vT*^  k 


Civ 

f- 

^  •: 


JERUSALEM. 


233 


(Psa.  48  :  2,  3  ;  50  :  2.)  “  How  doth  the  city  sit  solitary 

that  was  full  of  people !”  laments  the  prophet  in  his 
funeral  dirge,  “  how  is  she  become  a  widow  !  she  that  was 
great  among  the  nations,  and  princess  among  the  prov¬ 
inces,  how  is  she  become  tributary!”  (Lam.  1:1.) 
The  Moslems,  who  look  down  with  ignorant  and  stupid 
contempt  upon  Christians  and  their  religion,  rule  and 
ruin  the  land  and  occupy  the  temple  area.  Mount  Olivet, 
and  Bethany;  while  other  sacred  places,  as  the  church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  are  guarded  by  their  soldiers. 
The  native  churches  unfortunately  have  but  the  empty 
shell  of  the  religion  they  profess,  and  present  a  spectacle 
not  unlike  the  Jewish  synagogue  at  the  time  of  Christ 
and  the  apostles.  We  approach  Jerusalem  with  rever¬ 
ence  and  awe,  and  are  overwhelmed  with  the  memories 
of  the  stupendous  events  which  here  took  place;  but  we 
are  pained  and  shocked  by  the  base  superstition  and 
empty  formalism  which  meet  us  everywhere.  Here  the 
Saviour  died  and  rose  again  for  the  salvation  of  mankind  ; 
and  here  his  religion  is  turned  into  a  shame  and  reproach. 
We  are  charmed  with  the  beautiful  situation  and  the 
hills  that  surround  the  city  of  David  ;  but  we  are  disgust¬ 
ed  with  the  wretched  interior,  the  ill-paved,  narrow  and 
dirty  streets,  the  ignorance,  poverty,  and  misery  of  the 
inhabitants.  We  seek  a  fair  type  of 

“Jerusalem  the  golden,  with  milk  and  honey  blest;” 
and  we  find  instead 

Jerusalem  the  stony,  with  dirt  and  rubbish  cursed. 

We  desire  to  come  nearer  to  Christ  on  the  spots  which 

20* 


234 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


he  touched,  like  the  Crusaders  of  old;  but  we  are  told 
that  he  is  not  here,  he  is  risen  and  ascended  to  heaven. 

And  yet  after  all,  no  city,  not  even  Rome,  can  be 
more  interesting  to  a  Christian  than  Jerusalem ;  and  the 
interest  increases  the  more  we  study  its  ruins  of  a  glori¬ 
ous  past.  The  poetry  is  marred,  but  the  reality  is  deep¬ 
ened.  And  while  we  are  filled  with  mingled  feelings  of 
pity  and  indignation  at  the  melancholy  condition  of  the 
native  population  and  religion  under  the  corrupt  despot¬ 
ism  of  the  Turks,  we  are  inspired  with  the  hope  of  a  new 
Jerusalem  that  is  gradually  springing  up  by  the  pious 
and  benevolent  efforts  of  foreigners,  who  labor  for  the 
revival  of  Bible  Christianity  in  this  Bible  land.  The  time 
may  come  again  when 

“  Glorious  things  of  thee  are  spoken, 

Zion,  city  of  our  God.” 

Whoever  approaches  Jerusalem  from  the  west,  the 
north,  or  even  from  the  south,  will  be  disappointed.  But 
viewed  from  Mount  Olivet,  on  the  east,  Jerusalem  pre¬ 
sents  a  beautiful  and  imposing  sight,  and  justifies  all  the 
praises  lavished  upon  her  by  the  singers  of  Israel.  For¬ 
tunately  God’s  mountains  and  God’s  nature  cannot  be 
destroyed  by  the  vandalism  of  man.  From  Mount  Oli¬ 
vet  Jerusalem  should  be  seen  first  and  seen  last.  That 
sight  can  never  be  forgotten.  It  is  the  spot  from  which 
the  Saviour  looked  upon  the  temple  and  wept  over  the 
unbelief  and  approaching  doom  of  the  ungrateful  city. 
It  is  the  spot  from  which  he  ascended  to  heaven  to  take 
possession  of  his  throne  as  the  King  of  the  Church. 

The  history  of  Jerusalem  is  full  of  romantic  and  tragic 


JERUSALEM. 


235 


interest.  It  has  seen  about  twenty  sieges  and  destruc¬ 
tions.  There  is  a  Jerusalem  of  the  Jebusites,  a  Jerusa¬ 
lem  of  David  and  Solomon,  a  Jerusalem  of  Ezra  and  Ne- 
hemiah,  a  Jerusalem  of  the  Ptolemies,  a  Jerusalem  of 
the  Maccabees,  a  Jerusalem  of  Herod,  a  Jerusalem  of 
the  Romans,  a  Jerusalem  of  the  Christian  emperors,  a 
Jerusalem  of  the  Saracens,  a  Jerusalem  of  the  Crusaders, 
and  a  Jerusalem  of  the  Turks.  Throughput  all  these 
changes  it  has  been  claimed  as  a  holy  city  by  Jews, 
Christians,  and  Mohammedans. 

The  Jerusalem  of  our  Saviour  and  the  apostles  lies 
buried  from  twenty  to  eighty  feet  under  the  ruins  and 
rubbish  of  centuries.  The  prophecy  of  Jeremiah  (30:  18) 
that  “  the  city  shall  be  budded  upon  her  own  heap,”  has 
been  fulfilled  many  times.  There  is  no  street  left  which 
our  Saviour  trod,  and  no  house  which  he  saw.  This 
makes  it  very  difficult  to  identify  any  of  the  old  sites. 
The  internal  relations  of  the  city  are  “a  mass  of  topo¬ 
graphical  controversy,  unequalled  for  its  extent,  for  its 
confusion,  and  for  its  bitterness.”  It  is  only  quite  re¬ 
cently  that  by  the  noble  exertions  of  the  Palestine  Explo¬ 
ration  Society,  continued  for  three  years  (1867-1870), 
parts  of  the  subterranean  city  have  been  brought  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  world.*  But  these  labors  were  inter¬ 
rupted  and  the  shafts  closed  up,  so  that  little  or  nothing 

*  The  results  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Society  are  summed  up 
in  the  following  works  :  The  Recovery  of  Jernsalem,  London,  1871.  Our 
Work  in  Palestine :  Being  an  Account  of  the  Different  Expeditions  sent  out 
to  the  Holy  Land  by  the  Committee  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  Lon¬ 
don,  1873.  Capt.  Charles  Warren,  Underground  Jerusalem,  London, 
1876.  Dr.  Carl  Zimmermann,  Karten  und  Plane  zur  Topographic  des 
alien  Jerusalem,  Basel,  1876. 


236 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


can  be  seen  now.  The  superstitious  inhabitants  fear  that 
their  houses  will  fall  down  if  the  work  should  go  on.  At 
present  the  topography  of  Jerusalem  is  more  confused, 
by  new  theories  and  speculations,  than  ever.  The  course 
of  the  ancient  walls,  on  which  depends  the  solution  of 
the  problem  of  the  traditional  site  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
is  still  undetermined.  The  only  place  within  the  city 
about  which  there  is  a  general  agreement  among  scholars 
is  Mount  Moriah,  and  even  there  the  exact  site  of  the 
ancient  temple  is  under  dispute.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
before  long  the  excavations  will  be  resumed  on  a  larger 
scale  and  under  the  protection  of  a  better  government. 

In  the  first  century  Jerusalem  contained  a  very  large 
population,  although  the  figures  of  Josephus  seem  to  be 
greatly  exaggerated.*  He  states  that  the  number  of 
paschal  lambs  slain  on  a  passover  during  the  governor¬ 
ship  of  Cestius  under  Nero  amounted  to  256,500  ;  which, 
upon  an  allowance  of  ten  to  a  party,  would  imply  over 
two  millions  and  a  half  actually  present  in  the  city 
during  that  festival.  He  also  states  that  at  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  Jerusalem  (a.  d.  70)  eleven  hundred  thousand 
Jews  perished,  and  ninety  seven  thousand  were  sold  into 
slavery.  This  includes  about  600,000  strangers  who, 
from  fanaticism  and  fear  of  the  Romans,  had  crowded 
into  the  doomed  city  before  the  siege ;  but  even  if  we 
deduct  them  we  would  still  have  more  than  half  a  million 
of  inhabitants  in  the  last  days  of  ancient  Jerusalem. 

The  present  number  of  inhabitants  is  stated  by  Ba- 
deker  to  be  24,000,  among  whom  13,000  are  Moslems, 

*  Bell.  Jud.,  book  VI.,  ch.  9,  §  3. 


POOL  OF  HEZEKIAH 


- '  1 

■  ,1 


JERUSALEM. 


237 


7,000  Christians,  and  4,000  Jews.  But  Dr.  Bernhard 
Neumann,  a  Jewish  physician  who  resided  fifteen  years 
in  Jerusalem,  estimates  the  total  number  of  inhabitants 
at  36,000,  namely ;  15,000  Mohammedans,  13,000  Jews, 
and  8,000  Christians  (including  5,000  Franks).* 

In  the  Easter  season  Jerusalem  has  quite  a  cosmo¬ 
politan  aspect,  and  besides  the  vernacular  Arabic  you 
may  hear  about  a  dozen  languages  spoken.  The  number 
of  pilgrims  sometimes  amounts  to  10,000  and  more.  In 
other  seasons  Jerusalem  must  be  an  exceedingly  dull 
place.  There  are  no  amusements  of  any  kind.  There 
is  not  even  a  newspaper  published  there  except  in  the 
Hebrew  language.  The  only  periodicals  you  see  in  the 
hotels  (the  Mediterranean  and  the  Damascus)  come  from 
abroad  and  are  addressed  to  visitors.  There  is  no  reg¬ 
ular  mail  but  once  a  week  or  a  fortnight,  brought  by  the 
steamer  from  Jaffa. 

Jerusalem  is  the  place  for  the  study  of  ruins.  The 
whole  city  is  a  venerable  ruin. 

I  spent  nearly  two  weeks  in  Jerusalem,  including 
Greek  and  Latin  Easter — long  enough  for  deep  and  last¬ 
ing  impressions,  though  not  for  careful  investigation.  I 
walked  around  the  walls,  which  can  be  done  in  an  hour. 
I  visited  the  places  of  interest  in  and  around  the  city, 
the  Christian  churches,  monasteries,  and  hospices,  the 
synagogues,  the  mosques,  the  citadel,  the  coenaculum,  the 
tomb  of  David,  the  Via  Dolorosa,  the  cemeteries,  the 
Valley  of  the  Kedron,  the  tombs  of  Absalom,  St.  James, 
and  Zachariah,  St.  Mary’s  Well,  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  Job’s 

*  Die  heilige  Sladt  uiid  dereii  Bewokne?-,  Jlambtirg,  1877,  p.  216. 


238 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Well,  Aceldama,  the  Valley  of  Hinnom,  the  Tombs  of 
the  Kings,  the  Tombs  of  the  Judges,  the  quarries  of  the 
the  temple,  etc.  I  attended  the  public  services,  the 
schools  and  hospitals.  I  went  twice  to  Gethsemane, 
Mount  Olivet,  Mount  Scopus,  and  Bethany.  I  made  an 
excursion  to  Nebi  Samwil,  the  highest  .mountain  near 
Jerusalem,  and  enjoyed  a  magnificent  view  over  the  plain 
of  Sharon  as  far  as  Ramleh  and  Jaffa,  the  battle-field  of 
Joshua  (Josh.  10 : 10),  Gibeon,  Mizpeh,  and  the  distant 
mountains  of  Moab.  I  did  not  neglect  to  visit  the  archae¬ 
ological  and  literary  curiosity-shop  of  Mr.  Shapira  (a  con¬ 
verted  German  Jew)  and  his  disputed  Moab  antiquities, 
and  the  instructive  models  of  Jerusalem,  the  Tabernacle, 
and  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  made  by  Conrad 
Schick,  who  kindly  explained  them  to  me.  I  became  ac¬ 
quainted  with  Bishop  Gobat  and  family.  Rev.  Messrs. 
Heffter,  Friedlander,  Klein,  and  Reinke,  Dr.  Chaplin, 
Mr.  Frutiger,  and  other  Protestant  residents  who  are  en¬ 
gaged  in  Christian  work,  and  enabled  me  to  learn  more 
.in  a  few  days  than  I  could  otherwise  in  as  many  weeks. 
I  stayed  in  the  Mediterranean  Hotel  near  the  Jaffa  gate, 
kept  by  a  converted  Jew  (Moses  Hornstein),  and  from 
the  top  of  it  I  looked  every  morning  over  the  dome¬ 
shaped  roofs  of  the  houses  to  Mount  Olivet  and  into  the 
Pool  of  Hezekiah.  I  met  around  the  table  every  day  the 
German  consul  (Baron  von  Mtinchhausen),  the  late 
American  consul  (Dr.  De  Hass),  and  an  interesting  va¬ 
riety  of  strangers  from  England,  Scotland,  America,  Ger¬ 
many,  and  Holland,  Catholics,  Presbyterians,  Episcopa¬ 
lians,  Methodists,  Baptists,  and  Lutherans. 


JAFFA. 


JERUSALEM. 


239 


From  the  multiplicity  of  objects  which  engaged  my 
attention  during  this  sojourn,  I  can  only  select  a  few  for 
special  description.  The  number  of  works  on  Jerusalem, 
ancient  and  modern,  is  so  large  that  almost  any  new  de¬ 
scription  is  a  work  of  supererogation.  Let  us  first  turn 
our  attention  to  the  present  state  of  religion  in  the  city 
as  far  as  it  came  under  my  observation. 


240 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

RELIGION  IN  JERUSALEM. 

The  Easter  Festivities — The  Wooden  Christ — Seven 
Sermons  in  Seven  Languages — Feet-washing — 
The  Greek  Fire — The  Greek  Church — The  Latin 
Church — Oriental  Sects — The  Protestant  Church¬ 
es  and  Institutions - The  Anglo-Prussian  Bish¬ 

opric — Bishop  Gobat — The  Jewish  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety — The  German  Colony — Chrischona  and  Kai- 
serswerth— Talitha  Kumi — The  Jews. 

EASTER  FESTIVITIES. 

I  WITNESSED  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
the  solemnities  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  Easter  festivals, 
which  in  1877  were  divided  by  one  week,  the  former 
falling  on  April  i,  the  latter  on  April  8.  I  saw  none  of 
the  disgraceful  fights  between  the  rival  communions 
which  are  said  sometimes  to  dishonor  the  Christian  name 
on  the  very  spot  of  the  Crucifixion,  and  to  call  for  the 
intervention  of  the  Mohammedan  soldiers  who  are  pres¬ 
ent  in  large  force  and  look  on  with  stolid  indifference 
and  sovereign  contempt. 

I  cannot  say  that  I  have  been  favorably  impressed. 
I  would  gladly  recognize  piety  and  devotion  to  Christ 
even  under  the  crude  and  distorted  forms  of  supersti¬ 
tion.  But  I  could  not  restrain  the  feeling  that  this  is 
not  the  worship  “in  spirit  and  in  truth”  which  our  Sav-' 


VIA  DOLOROSA 


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RELIGION  IN  JERUSALEM.  241 

iour  demands.  In  point  of  taste  and  art  the  solemni¬ 
ties  of  the  holy  week  are  far  inferior  to  those  of  St.  Pe¬ 
ter’s  in  Rome,  and  not  to  be  compared  with  the  Passion 
play  at  Ober-Ammergau,  which  I  witnessed  in  1871. 
The  singing  is  miserable,  and  the  only  good  music  I 
heard  in  Jerusalem  was  in  the  Russian  church  and  in  the 
Protestant  service.  The  Orientals  seem  to  have  no  idea 
of  music.  The  crowd  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepul¬ 
chre  is  almost  crushing  during  the  services.  I  saw  a 
wooden  Christ  carried  about  and  embalmed,  on  the  Latin 
Good  Friday,  and  heard  seven  sermons,  good,  bad,  and 
indifferent,  in  as  many  languages.  I  saw  the  feet-wash- 
i'ng  on  Greek  Maundy  Thursday,  and  the  wild  struggle 
of  the  people  for  the  branches  of  the  olive-tree,  which  are 
thrown  among  them  at  the  close  of  the  ceremony.  I  wit¬ 
nessed,  on  the  Greek  Easter  eve,  the  scandalous  fraud  of 
the  Holy  Fire,  and  the  tumultuous  eagerness  with  which 
the  superstitious  people  light  their  tapers  at  the  sacred 
flame — said  to  be  miraculously  sent  from  heaven,  but  in 
fact  kindled  by  the  priests  within  the  chapel  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  It  seems  to  have  been  originally  a  symboli¬ 
cal  representation  of  the  light  of  the  Resurrection  or  the 
Pentecostal  fire.  On  Good  Friday  all  the  lamps  were  ex¬ 
tinguished  ;  on  Easter  they  were  relighted.  But  in  the 
course  of  time  the  innocent  symbol  was  turned  into  a 
lying  miracle  to  feed  the  superstition  of  the  ignorant 
people  and  to  fill  the  pockets  of  the  priests.  The  La¬ 
tins,  who  formerly  shared  in  it,  now  denounce  it  without 
mercy.  Even  the  Armenian  patriarch  is  said  to  have 
preached  against  this  pious  humbug,  and  yet  he  coun- 

21 


Bible  Lands. 


242 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


tenances  it  in  practice  together  with  the  orthodox 
Greeks. 

Before  I  left  for  the  East,  Dean  Stanley,  with  his 
characteristic  broad  church  charity,  told  me  that  he 
found  it  very  beautiful  to  see  the  various  Christian  sects 
uniting  in  the  worship  of  Christ  under  the  same  roof. 
But  Protestants  are  excluded,  and  the  old  sects  hate  each 
other  more  than  they  do  the  Protestants.  The  jealousy 
and  rivalry  between  the  Greeks  and  Latins,  though  it 
may  not  break  out  openly,  is  as  great  as  ever,  and  is  one 
of  the  saddest  aspects  of  Eastern  Christianity. 

THE  OLD  CHURCHES. 

The  Greek  Church  is  the  strongest  in  Jerusalem  as 
to  number,  wealth,  and  influence,  and  is  backed  by  the 
power  of  Russia.  Its  native  members  are  Arabs,  and 
speak  Arabic ;  its  clergy  are  mostly  foreigners  from  the 
Greek  islands,  and  speak  modern  Greek.  It  owns  several 
monasteries.  The  “  Great  Greek  Monastery,”  or  Patriar- 
cheion,  near  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  is  the 
residence  of  the  patriarch,  and  has  a  valuable  library. 
The  “Monastery  of  St.  John  the  Baptist”  can  accommo¬ 
date  flve  hundred  pilgrims  at  Easter.  A  rich  Greek 
priest  built  a  beautiful  summerhouse  on  the  road  to 
Jaffa,  with  a  garden  abounding  in  trees  and  flowers. 

The  Russians  erected,  from  i860  to  1864,  several  im¬ 
posing  and  conspicuous  buildings  on  an  eminence  west 
of  the  Jaffa  gate.  They  consist  of  a  consular  residence, 
two  hospices,  one  for  men,  one  for  women,  and  a  beau¬ 
tiful  church.  The  orthodox  Church  of  Russia  is  un- 


RELIGION  IN  JERUSALEM. 


243 


doubtedly  the  most  vital  and  hopeful  part  of  the  Orien¬ 
tal  Church,  but  is  regarded  with  some  jealousy  by  the 
Greeks. 

The  Latin  communion,  though  smaller,  is  more  active, 
and  derives  its  chief  support  from  France  and  Italy.  It 
is  governed  by  a  rival  patriarch.  It  numbers  several  con¬ 
vents  (called  the  Terra  Santa  convents),  schools,  and 
charitable  institutions.  The  Casa  Nuova  of  the  Francis¬ 
cans  is  a  commodious  and  exceptionally  clean  hospice 
near  the  Jaffa  Gate,  and  affords  accommodation  to  trav¬ 
ellers  for  a  very  reasonable  sum  (five  francs  a  day,  while 
the  hotels  charge  twelve  francs  or  more).  Protestants 
are  freely  admitted  as  well  as  Catholics,  and  find  hospi¬ 
table  treatment. 

Both  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches  have  been  lately 
stirred  up  to  new  zeal  by  the  educational  labors  of  the 
Protestants. 

The  Oriental  Schismatics  are  likewise  represented  in 
Jerusalem.  The  Armenians  have  a  fine  church,  dedicated 
to  St.  James,  a  convent,  and  a  hospice,  near  Mount  Zion, 
and  look  intelligent  and  prosperous.  Their  spiritual  ruler 
is  called  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem.  The  Copts  and  Abys- 
sinians  are  poor  and  insignificant. 

THE  PROTESTANT  INSTITUTIONS. 

The  Protestants  form  the  smallest  of  the  Christian 
communities,  but  are  growing  in  influence,  and  seem  to 
be  respected  by  the  Mohammedans,  who  abhor  the  other 
Christians  as  idolaters. 

The  Church  of  England  and  the  Evangelical  Church 


244 


BIBLE  LANDS, 


of  Prussia  have  been  at  work  here  for  the  last  thirty  or 
forty  years.  They  are  aided  by  the  Crischona  Institute 
of  Basle,  and  the  Deaconesses’  Institute  at  Kaiserswerth. 
There  are  now  three  Protestant  congregations  in  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  an  English,  a  German,  and  a  native  Arab,  all  in 
nominal  connection  with  the  bishopric  of  St.  James  ;  but 
the  English  congregation,  which  consists  mostly  of  Jew¬ 
ish  proselytes,  is  under  the  direction  of  the  London  Jew¬ 
ish  Missionary  Society,  the  Arab  congregation  under  the 
care  of  the  English  Church  Missionary  Society,  and  the 
German  congregation  under  the  care  of  the  Prussian 
Oberkirchenrath. 

The  Anglo-German,  or  rather  the  Prusso-Anglican 
bishopric  of  St.  James,  was  projected  in  1841  by  the 
pious  zeal  of  King  Frederick  William  IV.  (the  brother  of 
the  Emperor  of  Germany)  and  his  friend  Chevalier  Bun¬ 
sen,  both  equally  distinguished  for  sincere  piety,  brilliant 
genius,  literary  and  artistic  culture,  love  of  mediaeval 
romance,  and  sanguine  hope  of  Christian  union  on  the 
basis  of  the  primitive  Church.  The  king  gave  one  half 
of  the  episcopal  endowment  fund  (^15,000),  England  the 
other  half.  The  novel  scheme  encouraged  sanguine  hopes, 
and  provoked  ridicule  and  opposition.  Some  dreamed  the 
sweet  dream  of  an  approaching  reunion  of  all  Christen¬ 
dom,  with  Jerusalem  as  its  centre;  while  two  theological 
professors  at  Berne  (Schneckenburger  and  Hundesha- 
gen)  hurled  at  the  founders  an  anonymous  pamphlet, 
with  the  characteristic  motto,  “Will  a  wise  man  fill  his 
belly  with  East  wind  ?”  German  Christians  care  little 
for  episcopacy  and  the  Anglican  liturgy,  but  help  to  sup- 


RELIGION  IN  JERUSALEM. 


245 


port  the  benevolent  institutions.  The  English  Church  is 
divided  on  the  Jerusalem  mission.  The  Low  church  or 
evangelical  party  favors  it,  but  the  High  church  party  is 
opposed  to  an  alliance  with  a  non-episcopal  sect,  although 
the  king  of  Prussia  unwisely  conceded  the  reordination 
of  German  ministers,  and  the  right  of  a  veto  of  the  arch¬ 
bishop  of  Canterbury  with  respect  to  the  bishop  alter¬ 
nately  to  be  nominated  by  the  crown  of  Prussia.  The 
Tractarians  and  Ritualists  even  abhor  the  Jerusalem 
episcopate  as  an  impudent  interference  with  the  jurisdic¬ 
tion  of  the  Greek  sister  Church. 

Nevertheless  the  bishopric  has  done  good,  and  will 
live.  The  first  bishop.  Dr.  Solomon  Alexander,  a  con¬ 
verted  Jew,  was  appointed  by  England,  and  labored  from 
1841  to  1845.  The  second  bishop.  Dr.  Samuel  Gobat,  a 
Swiss  by  birth,  and  formerly  a  missionary  in  Abyssinia, 
trained  in  the  mission  institute  at  Basle,  a  good  Arabic 
scholar,  was  appointed  by  Prussia,  and  consecrated  in 
1846.  He  is  now  eighty  years  old,  and  feeble,  but  has 
been  very  active  in  his  day,  and  established  several  use¬ 
ful  schools  in  Jerusalem  and  other  places.  He  has  re¬ 
cently  committed  them  to  the  care  of  the  English  Church 
Missionary  Society,  with  the  exception  of  the  Orphan 
House  on  Mount  Zion.  I  heard  him  preach,  on  Easter 
morning,  an  evangelical  sermon  (with  which  a  ritualist 
clergyman  of  England  was  greatly  displeased)  in  the 
English  church  on  Mount  Zion,  a  few  steps'  from  his 
residence.  In  the  afternoon  I  preached  a  German  resur¬ 
rection  sermon  in  the  same  church,  and  during  the  week 
I  made  an  English  address  at  a  prayer-meeting  in  the 

21* 


246 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


adjoining  chapel.  The  late  Bishop  Marvin,  of  the  South¬ 
ern  Methodist  church,  preached  an  eloquent  sermon  in 
the  chapel,  at  which  Gobat  was  present.  The  services 
were  well  attended,  but  mostly  by  foreigners.  Worship 
is  also  conducted  in  the  Hebrew  language  for  Jewish 
proselytes,  after  the  order  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 
The  church  is  a  substantial  and  beautiful  edifice,  with  a 
good  parsonage  for  the  rector,  a  chapel,  a  valuable  libra¬ 
ry,  and  schoolhouses  for  boys  and  girls.  It  was  erected 
in  1847,  from  the  Episcopal  fund,  but  by  the  “Lon¬ 
don  Society  for  Promoting  Christianity  among  the  Jews,” 
which  controls  it  still,  so  that  the  bishop  has  little  to 
say. 

This  Society,  which  dates  from  1808,  is  the  pioneer 
of  Protestantism  in  Jerusalem.  It  began  operations 
among  the  Jews  in  Palestine  in  1823,  by  sending  a  med¬ 
ical  missionary.  Dr.  Dalton  (who  died  in  1826),  and  then 
the  Rev.  J.  Nicolayson  (who  continued  till  1839)  to  Jeru¬ 
salem,  and  after  several  years  of  apparent  failure  it  con¬ 
verted  a  number  of  persons,  two-thirds  of  them  Jews. 
The  Society  founded  also  a  hospital  for  Jews  with  fifty 
beds,  a  house  of  industry,  in  which  the  converts  learn 
a  trade,  and  schools  for  children  of  Jewish  prose¬ 
lytes. 

The  new  Episcopal  church  for  the  Arabs  was  erected 
in  1864  by  the  English  Church  Missionary  Society.  It 
is  a  very  fine  building,  with  a  commodious  parsonage, 
outside  of  the  Jaffa  gate,  near  the  Russian  property.  It 
is  at  present  in  charge  of  Rev.  Mr.  Klein,  who  first  found 
the  famous  Moabite  stone. 


RELIGION  IN  JERUSALEM. 


247 


The  German  congregation  formerly  worshipped  in  the 
church  on  Mount  Zion,  but  has  now  a  new  church  in 
the  building  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  with  a  pastor 
who  is  appointed  by  the  highest  council  (the  Oberkir- 
chenrath)  of  the  Evangelical  United  Church  of  Prussia. 
A  Prussian  hospice  is  connected  with  it,  and  affords  a 
pleasant  home  to  Protestant  travellers  at  a  reasonable 
price.  A  society  in  Berlin,  called  the  “  Jerusalems-Ve- 
rein,”  founded  in  1852,  collects  funds  for  the  support  of 
the  German  church  and  schools  in  Jerusalem  and  Beth¬ 
lehem. 

The  resident  Germans  in  Jerusalem  are  a  very  worthy 
and  useful  colony.  Many  of  them  were  sent  here  as  lay 
missionaries,  teachers,  and  catechists,  from  the  Chris- 
chona,  near  Basle,  an  institution  founded  by  a  pious  and 
liberal  layman,  Mr.  Spittler.  Since  1868  a  new  German 
sect,  called  the  Friends  of  the  Temple,  under  the  lead  of 
Dr.  Hoffmann  of  Wiirtemberg,  has  established  flourish¬ 
ing  colonies  at  Jaffa,  Haifa,  and  Jerusalem. 

The  German  Deaconesses  also  are  doing  an  excellent 
work  in  Jerusalem.  They  manage  a  hospital  and  a  Prot¬ 
estant  female  school  called  Talitha  Kumi,  two  noble 
Christian  institutions.  The  teachers  and  nurses  are  re¬ 
fined  and  devoted  ladies,  trained  at  Kaiserswerth  on  the 
Rhine,  the  mother-house  of  the  Deaconesses,  or  Protes¬ 
tant  Sisters  of  Charity.  No  traveller  interested  in  Chris¬ 
tian  education  and  philanthropy  should  neglect  to  visit 
Talitha  Kumi.  It  is  not  far  from  the  Jaffa  Gate  on  a 
hill,  a  shining  light  for  the  neglected  female  children 
of  Jerusalem.  It  is  delightful  to  see  the  cleanliness  and 


248 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


politeness  of  the  girls  brought  up  in  this  school,  as  con¬ 
trasted  with  the  filth  and  ignorance  from  which  they 
have  been  raised. 

We  must  also  favorably  mention  the  Lepers'  Home. 
It  was  established  by  a  pious  German  baroness  Von  Kef- 
fenbrinck,  in  1867,  has  been  sustained  so  far  almost 
exclusively  by  funds  collected  in  Germany.  It  is  under 
the  charge  of  a  worthy  and  self-denying  couple,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Tappe,  formerly  Moravian  missionaries  in  Labrador. 
There  are  at  present  eighteen  inmates,  all  Mohammedans. 
When  I  saw  the  victims  of  this  fearful  and  incurable  dis¬ 
ease,  which  distorts  the  whole  human  frame,  and  deliv¬ 
ers  all  its  members,  one  by  one,  to  fatal  putrefaction,  I 
thanked  God  for  such  an  institution,  which  is  an  honor 
to  the  Christian  name.  Outside  of  the  Jaffa  Gate  some 
of  these  unfortunate  creatures  maybe  seen  showing  their 
disfigured  and  half-decayed  limbs,  and  piteously  begging 
alms,  but  there  is  no  Saviour  now  on  earth  to  heal  them. 
Thank  God,  there  are  Christians  who  can  at  least  alle¬ 
viate  their  sufferings. 

The  Protestants  enjoy  full  toleration  for  these  benev¬ 
olent  operations.  The  Turkish  government  cares  for 
nothing  but  tribute  from  the  people,  and  is  afraid  of 
offending  Christian  governments. 

I  cannot  conclude  without  directing  attention  to  the 
fact  that  America,  which  has  done  so  much  for  the  ex¬ 
ploration  of  Palestine  through  Dr.  Robinson  and  others, 
has  done  little  for  reviving  primitive  Christianity  in 
this  city,  from  which-  we  received  the  greatest  blessings. 
While  the  American  Presbyterians  have  flourishing  mis- 


RELIGION  IN  JERUSALEM. 


249 


sions  in  Syria,  and  the  Congregationalists  in  Turkey, 
there  is  not  a  single  American  mission  church  or  mission 
school  in  all  Palestine.  It  would  indeed  be  wrong  for 
any  denomination  to  interfere  with  the  good  work  of  the 
Anglican  Church,  the  Evangelical  Church  of  Prussia,  the 
Chrischona  of  Basle  and  the  Deaconesses  of  Kaiserswerth. 
But  the  usefulness  of  their  churches  and  schools  already 
established  might  be  largely  increased  by  the  aid  and 
cooperation  of  American  contributions  and  laborers. 

THE  JEWS. 

A  word  about  the  Jews.  They  have  four  holy  cities 
in  Palestine :  Jerusalem,  Safed,  Tiberias,  and  Hebron. 
They  still  look  forward  to  the  restoration  of  their  race 
and  country.  Their  number  in  Jerusalem  is  growing 
rapidly  and  amounts  fully  to  one  third  of  the  whole  popu¬ 
lation.  They  are  divided  into  three  sects — the  Sephar¬ 
dim,  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  origin,  the  Askenazhn, 
from  Germany,  Hungary,  Poland,  and  Russia,  and  a  small 
number  of  Karaites,  wha  adhere  strictly  to  the  letter  of 
the  written  law  and  discard  the  rabbinical  traditions. 
There  are  no  reform  Jews  or  rationalists  in  Jerusalem. 
They  are  all  orthodox,  but  mostly  poor  and  dependent  on 
the  charity  of  their  brethren  in  Europe.  Many  come  to 
be  buried  on  holy  ground,  and  outside  of  the  Eastern 
wall  on  the  slopes  of  the  valley  of  the  Kedron,  which  are 
covered  with  tombstones.  The  Jewish  quarter  is  squalid 
and  forbidding.  It  ought  to  be  burned  down  and  built 
anew.  The  Polish  Jews  look  dirty  and  shabby,  and  wear 
curls,  which  give  them  an  effeminate  appearance.  The 


250 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Hebrew  language  is  used  in  Jerusalem  as  a  conversational 
language,  and  there  only.  The  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
Jews,  whose  ancestors  emigrated  after  their  expulsion 
from  Spain  under  Isabella  I.  (1497),  still  speak  a  Spanish 
patois.  The  German,  Austrian,  Polish,  and  Russian  Jews 
speak  a  corrupt  German.  Baron  Rothschild  and  Sir 
Moses  Montefiore  have  done  much  for  them  by  building 
hospitals  and  lodginghouses.  They  ought  to  buy  Pales¬ 
tine  and  administer  it  on  principles  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty. 

Every  traveller  ought  to  visit  the  “  Wailing  Place  of 
the  Jews”  at  the  Cyclopean  foundation  wall  of  the  tem¬ 
ple,  just  outside  the  enclosure  of  the  mosque  El  Aska 
and  near  “  Robinson’s  Arch.”  There  the  Jews  assemble 
every  Eriday  afternoon  and  on  festivals  to  bewail  the 
downfall  of  the  holy  city.  I  saw  on  Good  Friday  a  large 
number,  old  and  young,  male  and  female,  venerable  rabbis 
with  patriarchal  beards  and  young  men  kissing  the  stone 
wall  and  watering  it  with  their  tears.  They  repeat  from 
their  well-worn  Hebrew  Bibles  and  Prayer-books,  the 
Lamentations  of  Jeremiah  and  suitable  Psalms  (the  76th 
and  79th).  "  O  God,  the  heathen  are  come  into  thine  inher¬ 
itance  ;  thy  holy  temple  have  they  defiled  ;  they  have  laid 
Jerusalem  on  heaps.  .  .  ,  We  are  become  a  reproach  to 
our  neighbors,  a  scorn  and  derision  to  them  that  are 
round  about  us.”  Dr.  Tobler  gives  the  following  speci¬ 
men  of  responsive  laments  from  the  litanies  of  the  Kara¬ 
ites  ;* 

*  Topographic  von  yerusalem,  Vol.  I.,  page  629.  Similar  litanies  see 
in  Dr.  Potter’s  “  The  Gates  of  the  East,"  (New  York,  1876),  page  245  seq. 


RELIGION  IN  JERUSALEM. 


251 


For  the  palace  that  lies  desolate, 

R.  We  sit  in  solitude  and  mourn.  ^ 

For  the  walls  that  are  overthrown, 

R.  We  sit  in  solitude  and  mourn. 

For  our  majesty  that  is  departed, 

R.  We  sit  in  solitude  and  motmi. 

For  the  priests  who  have  stumbled, 

R.  We  sit  in  solitude  a7id  motirn. 

For  our  kings  who  have  despised  Him, 

R.  We  sit  in  solitude  and  moimi. 

Another  prayer : 

We  pray  thee,  have  mercy  upon  Zion, 

R.  Gather  the  children  of  Jerusalem. 

Make  haste,  make  haste.  Redeemer  of  Zion, 

R.  Speak  to  the  heart  of  Jer2tsale77t. 

May  beauty  and  majesty  surround  Zion, 

R.  Incline  mercifully  towai'd  Jerusalem. 

May  the  kingly  rule. over  Zion  soon  appear, 

R.  Comfort  those  that  moimi  over  Jerusalem. 

May  peace  and  delight  enter  Zion, 

R.  And  may  the  branch  sprout  m  Jerusalem}!. 

The  keynote  of  all  these  laments  and  prayers  was 
struck  by  Jeremiah,  the  most  pathetic  and  tender- hearted 
of  prophets,  in  the  Lamentations — that  funeral  dirge  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  theocracy.  This  elegy,  written  with 
sighs  and  tears,  has  done  its  work  most  effectually  in 

Tobler  (page  626)  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  celebration  of  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  in  the  synagogue,  on  the  9th  of  the  month  of 
Ab. 


252 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


great  public  calamities,  and  is  doing  it  every  year  on 
the  ninth  ot  the  month  of  Ab  (July),  when  it  is  read 
with  loud  weeping  in  all  the  synagogues  of  the  Jews,  and 
especially  at  Jerusalem.  It  keeps  alive  the  memory  of 
their  deepest  humiliation  and  guilt,  and  the  hope  of  final 
deliverance.  The  scene  at  the  Wailing  Place  was  to  me 
touching  and  pregnant  with  meaning.  God  has  no  doubt 
reserved  this  remarkable  people,  which,  like  the  burning 
bush,  is  never  consumed,  for  some  great  purpose  before 
the  final  coming  of  our  Lord. 


MOUNT  MORIAH. 


253 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

MOUNT  MORIAH,  AND  THE  DOME  OF  THE 
ROCK. 

The  Prophecy  of  Christ— The  Noble  Sanctuary— The 

Mosque  of  Omar  — The  Wonderful  Rock  — The 

Dream  of  Mohammed — The  Final  Judgment. 

“Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  There  shall  not  be  left  here  one  stone 
upon  another,  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down.” 

This  prophecy  of  our  Lord  (Matt.  24:  i,  2)  has  been 
literally  and  fearfully  verified.  The  Jewish  temple  has 
disappeared,  and  the  massive  and  venerable  substructions 
still  remaining  only  tell  the  sad  tale  of  its  former  site 
and  glory.  The  Roman  conquerors  would  naturally 
throw  down  the  stones  from  the  upper  parts,  and  these 
stones  accumulating  would  protect  the  lower  parts  from 
utter  demolition. 

Mount  Moriah,  or,  as  the  Moslems  call  it,  “the  Haram 
esh-Sherif,”  that  is,  “the  Noble  Sanctuary,”  is  the  pride 
of  Jerusalem  ancient  and  modern,  and  (as  Badeker  says) 
“one  of  the  most  profoundly  interesting  spots  in  the 
world.”  It  is  to  Jerusalem  what  the  Acropolis  is  to 
Athens.  Jews  and  Mohammedans  regard  it  with  equal 
reverence.  The  Jews  deplore  its  loss  and  desecration, 
and  lament  and  weep  every  Friday  outside  of  the  sacred 
enclosure ;  the  Moslems  glory  in  its  possession,  and  till 

Bible  Lauds.  ^2 


254 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


after  the  Crimean  war  strictly  excluded  all  foreigners 
from  its  precincts.  For  three  hundred  years,  from  Con¬ 
stantine  to  the  conquest  of  Omar  (637),  and  during  the 
reign  of  the  Crusaders  (1099  till  1187),  it  was  occupied 
by  the  Christians. 

The  Haram  area  is  an  artificial  oblong  plateau,  paved 
with  marble,  ornamented  with  fountains,  cypresses  and 
other  trees,  and  enclosed  by  supporting  walls,  which  are 
built  up  from  the  declivities  of  the  hill  on  three  sides 
(the  east,  the  south,  and  the  west),  and  give  it  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  a  gigantic  fortress.  The  masonry  of  the 
walls  is  of  different  periods,  Solomonic,  Herodian,  Sara¬ 
cenic,  and  modern.  Recent  excavations  have  brought 
to  light  masons’  marks  on  the  foundation  stones  in 
Phoenician  letters,  which  illustrate  the  fact  that  Hiram, 
king  of  Tyre,  furnished  Solomon  with  cunning  workmen 
for  the  Temple  (i  Kings  5;  2  Chron.  2).  The  eastern 
wall,  toward  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  is  1,530  feet 
long,  and  between  the  Golden  Gate  and  the  southeast 
angle  there  are  1,018  feet.  The  “Golden  Gate”  is  a 
double  portal  with  semicircular  arches  profusely  orna¬ 
mented.  It  is  not  the  “  Beautiful  Gate,”*  for  this  was 
probably  in  the  in7tcr  fore-court  of  the  temple.  It  may 
correspond  to  the  “closed  gate”  of  Ezek.  44:  1-3,  but 
in  its  present  shape  it  seems  to  be  of  Byzantine  origin. 
The  gate  is  closed,  but  the  Mohammedans  believe  that 
the  Christians  will  finally  pass  through  it.  Both  Jews 
and  Mohammedans  localize  here  the  scene  of  the  last 
judgment,  and  it  may  be  that  our  Lord,  standing  on  the. 

*  Acts  3 ;  2,  iSt'pa  tipata,  which  was  mistranslated  into  the  Latin  aurca. 


MOSQUE  OF  OMAR 


4 


‘V 


4 


i  •r 


■\ 


.  :  i 

..‘■,tw'’‘i 
'  •■‘^•#  "'i 

^;|j 

.;■#  ■ 


v  l'W^?'-  >./~  ■•tJ 


THE  DOME  OF  THE  ROCK. 


255 


slope  of  Mount  Olivet  opposite  this  gate,  described  the 
gathering  of  all  nations  before  his  judgment-seat.  The 
immense  subterranean  vaults  in  the  southeast  corner,  of 
uncertain  workmanship,  are  called  “  the  Stables  of  Sol¬ 
omon,”  and  in  the  masonry  of  the  piers  are  still  seen  the 
rings  by  which  the  Crusading  kings  and  the  knight  tem¬ 
plars  fastened  their  horses.  There  may  possibly  be  some 
foundation  for  the  name,  as  Solomon’s  palace  is  supposed 
to  have  stood  on  the  south  side  of  the  temple  area. 

The  excavations  of  Captains  Wilson  and  Warren 
have  shown  that  Moriah  is  honeycombed  by  a  vast  sys¬ 
tem  of  caverns,  wells,  and  reservoirs,  so  that  Jerusalem, 
even  during  the  longest  siege,  was  in  no  want  of  water. 
We  are  reminded  of  the  prophetic  visions  of  the  pure 
waters  of  life  which  shall  flow  from  the  temple  of  God 
to  water  the  earth  (Ezek.  47:1-12;  Zech.  13:1;  14:8; 
Rev.  22  :  i),  and  of  the  Psalmist’s  perennial  river,  the 
streams  whereof  make  glad  the  City  of  God  (Psa.  46 : 4). 

On  this  beautiful  platform  once  stood  the  Temple  of 
Solomon  in  all  its  glory;  then  the  humbler  Temple  of 
Zerubbabel ;  and  last  the  Temple  of  Herod,  which  was 
in  progress  of  construction  at  the  time  of  Christ,  and 
was  destroyed  by  the  Roman  army  a.  d.  70.  An  attempt 
to  rebuild  the  Jewish  temple  under  Julian  the  Apostate, 
who  hoped  thereby  to  refute  the  prediction  of  Christ, 
proved  a  disastrous  failure. 

In  its  place  rises  now  “  the  Mosque  of  Omar,”  or  the 
“  Dome  of  the  Rock  ”  (Kubbet  es  Sakhra),  as  gracefully 
as  St.  Sophia  in  Constantinople  01  St.  Peter’s  in  Rome. 
It  is  the  most  prominent,  as  well  as  the  most  beautiful 


256 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


building  in  the  whole  city.  It  stands  out  conspicuously 
in  every  picture  of  Jerusalem.  It  can  be  seen  best  from 
the  Kedron  Valley  and  Mount  Olivet.  It  is  the  second 
mosque  of  Islam,  inferior  only  to  that  of  Mecca,  as  Jeru¬ 
salem  is  its  second  sacred  city,  and  called  “  The  Holy  ” 
(El  Kuds).  It  stands  on  an  irregular  base  of  ten  feet  in 
height,  and  is  approached  by  three  flights  of  steps  which 
terminate  in  elegant  arcades  called  Scales  (Mawazin),  be¬ 
cause,  according  to  the  tradition,  the  scales  of  judgment 
are  to  be  suspended  here.  The  mosque  is  an  octagonal 
building,  each  side  measuring  67  feet,  and  is  surmounted 
by  a  lofty  dome  with  a  gilt  crescent.  The  whole  structure, 
including  the  platform,  is  170  feet  high.  The  interior 
has  two  cloisters  separated  by  an  octagonal  course  of 
piers  and  columns.  The  dome  is  supported  by  a  circle 
of  four  great  piers,  aud  twelve  Corinthian  columns.  In¬ 
scriptions  from  the  Koran  ornament  the  walls.  The 
building  is  of  uncertain  origin  ;  some  trace  it  to  Omar, 
some  to  Justinian  ;  James  Ferguson,  the  famous  histo¬ 
rian  of  architecture,  identifies  it  with  the  church  of  Con¬ 
stantine,  and  the  rock  beneath  with  the  tomb  of  Christ ; 
he  also  locates  Mount  Zion  on  Mount  Moriah  instead  of 
the  western  hill.  But  in  this  novel  and  startling  view 
he  has  had  few,  if  any,  followers.  During  the  Crusades 
the  building  was  used  as  a  Christian  cathedral. 

The  most  interesting  object  in  the  Mosque  of  Omar 
is  the  naked,  grayish  limestone  Rock  (Sakhra)  over  which 
it  is  built  and  from  which  it  has  its  name.  It  is  the  cen¬ 
tral  peak  of  the  rugged  hill.  It  stands  right  beneath  the 
dome,  is  57  feet  long,  43  feet  wide,  and  rises  from  one  to 


THE  DOME  OE  THE  ROCK. 


257 


five  or  six  feet  above  the  mosaic  marble  pavement.  It 
is  enclosed  by  an  iron  railing  with  arrow-headed  points 
and  metallic  candlesticks.  It  is  nowhere  mentioned  in 
the  Bible,  but  first  in  the  Talmud.  It  marks,  according 
to  Jewish  tradition,  the  centre  of  the  earth.  Here  Mel- 
chizedek  offered  sacrifice.  Here  Abraham  was  ready  to 
slay  his  son  Isaac.  Here  was  the  altar  of  burnt-offering, 
or,  according  to  others,  the  place  of  the  Ark  of  the  Cov¬ 
enant  in  the  Holy  of  Holies.  Here  David  and  Solomon 
prayed.  On  this  Rock  was  inscribed  the  unspeakable 
name  of  God  (the  “  Shemhamphorash  ”),  which  Jesus 
was  able  to  read  and  from  which  he  derived  his  power  of 
performing  miracles. 

The  Mohammedans  have  adopted  these  Jewish  fables 
and  improved  on  them.  They  make  as  much  of  the 
Rock  on  Mount  Moriah  as  of  the  Black  Stone  in  Mecca. 
They  believe  that  it  descended  from  heaven  and  is  sus¬ 
pended  in  the  air  ;  and  that  it  attempted  to  follow  the 
prophet  on  his  ascension  to  Paradise,  but  was  kept  back 
from  its  native  quarry  by  the  angel  Gabriel,  who  left  his 
large  hand-prints  as  a  memorial  of  the  miracle!  Moham¬ 
med  himself,  in  the  twelfth  year  of  his  mission,  spread 
the  absurd  story  that  he  made  a  night-journey  from 
Mecca  to  Jerusalem.*  Tradition  adds  that  from  Jerusa¬ 
lem  he  ascended  on  his  miraculous  steed  El-Borak,  ac¬ 
companied  by  Gabriel,  through  the  seven  heavens  to  the 
throne  of  God,  and  was  brought  back  again  to  Mecca  the 

*  Koran,  Sura  17  (Arabic  text),  entitled  the  “Night  Journey:” 
“Glory  be  to  Him  who  carried  his  servant  by  night  from  the  sacred  tem¬ 
ple  of  Mecca  to  the  temple  that  is  more  remote,  whose  precinct  we  have 
blessed,  that  we  might  show  him  of  our  signs.” 

22=*= 


258 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


same  night.  It  was  probably  a  mere  dream  of  Moham¬ 
med,  but  Abu  Bekr  vouched  for  its  reality,  and  it  in¬ 
creased  the  prophet’s  credit  as  having  conferred  with 
God  himself,  like  Moses,  and  contributed  much  to  his 
success.  Absurd  and  incredible  as  many  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  legends  are,  the  Talmudic  and  Mohammedan  legends 
are  far  more  absurd  and  incredible.  Mohammed  declared 
that  one  prayer  at  the  Sakhra  is  better  than  a  thousand 
elsewhere.  Beneath  it  is  “the  Well  of  Souls”  (Bir  el- 
Arwah)  and  the  gate  to  Hades.  At  the  last  day  the 
Black  Stone  of  Mecca  will  come  to  the  gray  Rock  of  Je¬ 
rusalem,  and  then  the  blast  of  the  trumpet  will  sound 
from  here  to  summon  all  mankind  in  the  Valley  of  Je- 
hoshaphat.  Mohammed,  assisted  by  Jesus,  will  take  his 
seat  on  a  round  projecting  porphyry  column,  which  is 
shown  in  the  east  wall  of  the  Haram,  to  execute  judg¬ 
ment.  God  will  then  erect  his  throne  on  the  Rock. 

Before  these  Mohammedan  dreams  are  fulfilled  the 
crescent  will  once  more  be  replaced  by  the  cross,  and  the 
Mosque  of  Omar  and  the  neighboring  Mosque  el-Aksa 
will  be  turned  into  Christian  churches. 


CAL  VAR  Y. 


259 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

CAL  VAR  V  AND  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  HOT  Y 
SEPULCHRE. 

Calvary — The  Evangelists  on  the  Site  of  the  Cruci¬ 
fixion — The  Epistles  and  the  Ante-Nieene  Wri¬ 
ters — The  Discovery  of  the  Traditional  Site  by 
Constantine  or  Helena — The  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre — A  Museum  of  sacred  Curiosities — Un¬ 
certainty  of  the  Tradition — Different  Views — The 
probable  Site— The  true  Calvary  Omnipresent  in 
the  Church. 

“  And  bearing  the  cross  for  himself,  he  went  out  into  the  place 
called  the  Place  of  a  Skull,  which  is  called  in  Hebrew  Golgotha: 
where  they  crucified  him,  and  two  others  with  him,  on  either  side 
one,  and  Jesus  in  the  midst.”  John  19  :  17,  18. 

Calvary,  or  Golgotha,  is  the  most  sacred  spot  in  Je¬ 
rusalem  and  in  the  world.  Who  would  not  like  to  touch 
the  place  of  the  crucifixion,  the  burial,  and  the  resurrec¬ 
tion  of  the  Son  of  God  !  But  is  it  really  under  the  roof 
of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  or  anywhere  else 
in  Jerusalem  }  or  has  it  been  buried  and  hidden  from 
profanation  and  idolatry } 

From  the  accounts  of  the  Evangelists  we  learn  the 
following  particulars,  which  must  control  this  contro¬ 
versy  ;  The  place  of  the  crucifixion  was,  i,  outside  of  the 
limits  of  the  city  (John  19:17;  Matt.  28:11;  Mark 
15  :  20,  21  ;  Luke  23  :  26;  comp.  Heb.  13:12);*  2,  near 

*  Even  now,  as  in  the  days  of  the  Romans,  all  executions  take  place 
outside  of  the  gate,  though  not  in  any  particular  locality.  Captain  War- 


26o 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


the  city  (John  19:20)  ;  3,  near  a  thoroughfare  and  ex¬ 
posed  to  the  gaze  of  the  multitude  (Matt.  27:39;  Mark 
15  :29;  John  19:20);  4,  on  a  conical  or  globular  eleva¬ 
tion  (hence  the  name,  “  Place  of  a  Skull,”  or  Calvary, 
Matt.  27:33;  Mark  15:22;  John  19:17;  Luke  23  : 33), 
though  not  on  a  mountain  or  hill  (as  the  monastic  desig¬ 
nation  ''Mount  Calvary”  would  imply) ;  5,  near  a  garden 
and  a  sepulchre  hewn  in  a  rock,  where  Christ  was  buried 
(Matt.  27:60;  John  19:38-42).  The  close  proximity, 
therefore,  of  Golgotha  and  the  Sepulchre  in  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is  no  objection  to  its  authenticity. 

In  the  Epistles  of  the  New  Testament  there  is  no  allu¬ 
sion  to  the  locality  of  the  crucifixion,  except  the  inci¬ 
dental  notice  that  it  took  place  “outside  of  the  gate” 
(Heb.  13:12).  The  apostles  evidently  fixed  their  eyes 
of  faith  and  love  upon  the  great  facts  themselves,  and  on 
the  ever-living  Christ  in  heaven. 

It  is  natural  to  assume  that  the  early  Christians 
resorted  to  those  places  for  meditation  and  prayer,  but 
there  is  no  trace  of  any  church  or  altar  there  during  the 
first  three  centuries.  Jerusalem  was  totally  destroyed  by 
Titus  A.  D.  70 ;  the  Christians  had  fled  before  to  Pella ; 
the  Jews  were  killed  or  sold  into  slavery  ;  and  heathen 
idolatry  for  some  time  took  the  place  of  Jewish  fanati¬ 
cism.  Hadrian,  after  the  insurrection  of  Bar-cochba 
(137),  razed  again  every  trace  of  Judaism,  and  built  on 
the  ruins  a  heathen  city  under  the  name  of  HHia  Capito¬ 
lina.  It  is  also  reported  by  Eusebius  and  Jerome,  who, 

ren  {Underground  yerusalem,  p.  353)  witnessed  a  most  barbarous  execu¬ 
tion  of  a  Bedawin  murderer  near  the  Jaffa  Gate. 


CAL  VAR  Y. 


261 


however,  lived  two  hundred  years  later,  and  who  do 
not  quite  agree,  that  Hadrian  erected  a  temple  of  Jupiter 
Capitolinus  on  the  vacant  spot  of  the  temple,  and  his  own 
statue  on  the  place  of  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  a  statue  of 
Venus  on  the  site  of  Calvary  (as  in  cruel  mockery  of  the 
Divine  Love  that  died  for  the  sins  of  mankind).  This 
report  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  the  spot  of  the 
crucifixion  was  known  to  Hadrian,  but  simply  that  it 
was  believed  to  be  such  by  the  writers  after  its  discov¬ 
ery  ;  otherwise  Eusebius  would  contradict  himself.* 
Eusebius  traces  the  discovery  of  the  site  of  the  cru¬ 
cifixion,  which,  he  says,  “  had  for  so  long  a  time  been 
hidden  beneath  the  earth,”  to  Constantine,  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  “  a  miracle  beyond  the  capacity  of  man  suf¬ 
ficiently  to  celebrate  or  even  to  comprehend.”  After 
removing  the  profane  obstructions  of  the  heathen,  the 
emperor  erected  on  the  sacred  spot  a  church  as  a  me¬ 
morial  of  the  victory  of  Christianity.  It  was  solemnly 
dedicated  A.  d.  335,  in  the  presence  of  a  great  council  of 
bishops,  among  whom  was  Eusebius  himself.f  The  his¬ 
torian  here  makes  no  mention  whatever  of  the  discovery 
of  the  cross,  nor  of  the  agency  of  St.  Helena,  the  mother 
of  Constantine,  although  he  ascribes  to  her  the  erection 
of  the  Church  of  the  Nativity  at  Bethlehem,  and  the 
Church  of  the  Ascension  on  Mount  Olivet.  But  The- 
odoret,  Socrates,  Sozomen,  and  other  writers  of  the  fifth 
century,  unanimously  ascribe  the  discovery,  or,  as  it  is 

*  Prof.  Krafft  (Topograpkie  Jerusalems, 'p.  236)  solves  the  contradic¬ 
tion  by  a  distinction  between  the  general  locality  and  the  particular  spot 
of  the  sepulchre ;  th-e  former  was  known,  the  latter  discovered  by  a  miracle. 
But  Eusebius  makes  no  such  distinction.  t  Vita  Const.,  III.,  25-40. 


262 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


characteristically  called,  the  “  invention  ”  of  the  cross 
and  the  sepulchre  to  this  pious  lady,  who,  at  the  age  of 
nearly  eighty  years  (a.  d.  326),  visited  Palestine.  After 
a  difficult  search,  she  found  three  crosses,  and,  separated 
from  them,  the  tablet  bearing  the  inscription  of  Pilate. 
The  true  cross  of  Christ  was  ascertained,  at  the  sugges¬ 
tion  of  Bishop  Macarius,  by  a  miracle  of  healing  which 
its  touch  produced  on  a  noble  lady  of  Jerusalem  lying 
sick  of  an  incurable  disease  ;  whereupon  Helena  caused 
a  splendid  church  to  be  erected  over  the  spot  where  the 
crosses  were  found. 

The  conflicting  accounts  may  perhaps  be  adjusted  by 
the  assumption  that  Constantine  carried  out  the  wishes 
of  his  mother.  But  at  all  events  the  traditional  site  of 
Calvary  rests  on  a  double  miracle,  which  is  in  keeping 
with  the  credulity  of  that  age,  but  can  hardly  stand  the 
test  of  sober  criticism.  Eusebius  and  his  continuators 
are  by  no  means  either  very  accurate  or  very  scrupulous 
or  impartial  historians. 

Since  that  time  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
which  was  no  doubt  first  built  either  by  Helena  or  her 
son,  but  has  undergone  several  destructions  and  recon¬ 
structions,  has  been  generally  regarded  as  the  place  of 
Christ’s  crucifixion  and  burial.  And  whether  its  claims 
be  well  founded  or  not,  we  cannot  approach  it  without 
profound  interest  and  a  certain  religious  awe.  It  is  for 
Catholic  Christians  what  the  temple  on  Mount  Moriah 
was  for  the  Jews,  and  what  the  Dome  of  the  Rock  is  for 
the  Mohammedans.  Genuine  or  not,  it  has  been  for 
many  centuries  a  centre  of  devotion,  the  very  holy  of 


CAL  VAR  Y. 


263 


holies  of  the  largest  portion  of  Christendom.  But  if  the 
old  temple  under  the  guardianship  of  the  Jewish  hier¬ 
archy  was  turned  from  a  house  of  God  into  a  “house  of 
merchandise”  (John  2:16)  and  a  “den  of  thieves  ”  (Matt. 
21  ;  13),  we  need  not  he  surprised  if  this  sanctuary  also 
has-  been  grossly  perverted.  Before  we  enter  the  church 
we  meet  a  multitude  of  profane  traffickers  selling  all 
sorts  of  eatables  and  religious  wares.  Armed  Turkish 
guards  stand  at  the  gate  and  in  the  vestibule,  at  the 
request  of  the  Latin  Christians,  to  protect  them  against 
the  violence  of  their  Greek  fellow-Christians.  The  rival 
churches  and  sects  which  jointly  own  the  property  (the 
orthodox  Greeks  own  the  largest  and  richest  chapel,  the 
Copts  the  smallest  and  poorest)  jealously  guard  their 
spots,  and  vie  with  each  other  in  outward  zeal  for  their 
common  Lord,  while  they  would  gladly  expel  their  breth¬ 
ren.  We  would  not  forget  the  divisions  in  the  Protes¬ 
tant  camp,  nor  the  unavoidable  dangers  of  family  quar¬ 
rels  under  the  same  roof,  but  the  impression  nevertheless 
is  very  humiliating,  and  dampens  the  zeal  of  devotion. 

The  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is  a  collection  of 
chapels  and  altars  of  different  ages,  and  a  unique  muse¬ 
um  of  religious  curiosities  from  Adam  to  Christ.  It  is 
lit  up  with  innumerable  lamps,  and  pervaded  with  the 
perfume  of  incense.  In  the  centre  of  the  rotunda,  be¬ 
neath  the  dome,  is  the  small  marble  Chapel  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  (at  Easter  lit  with  some  forty  gold 
and  silver  lamps),  where  pilgrims  from  every  land  in  a 
ceaseless  stream  are  going  in  and  out,  offering  candles 
and  kneeling  before  and  kissing  the  empty  tomb  of 


264 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Christ.  In  front  of  it  is  the  Angel’s  Chapel  (the  vesti¬ 
bule  to  the  Sepulchre),  with  the  piece  of  marble  which 
the  angel  removed  from  the  sepulchre,  and  on  which  he 
sat.  A  few  steps  from  it  is  the  Stone  of  Anointment, 
a  broad  marble  slab  honored  with  innumerable  kisses, 
We  are  also  shown  the  place  from  which  the  women 
witnessed  the  anointing  of  the  Saviour.  Twenty  steps 
higher  is  the  Chapel  of  Golgotha  or  Mount  Calvary. 
There  they  show  us  three  holes,  only  five  feet  apart  from 
each  other,  in  which  the  crosses  of  Christ  and  the  two 
robbers  were  inserted,  and  the  cleft  in  the  rock  made  by 
the  earthquake  (Matt.  27:51).  Close  by  is  the  Chapel 
of  the  Agony  of  Mary  bearing  her  Son  on  her  knees. 
The  Chapel  of  the  Finding  of  the  Cross  by  St.  Helena, 
three  hundred  years  after  the  event,  lies  deeper  ;  so  also 
the  Chapel  of  the  Raising  of  the  Cross.  Almost  every 
incident  in  the  history  of  the  passion  and  resurrection  is 
commemorated  by  chapels,  altars,  or  crosses,  up  stairs 
and  down  stairs,  in  nooks  and  corners,  and  everywhere. 
The  very  spots  are  pointed  out  where  Christ  was  bound  ; 
where  he  was  scourged  ;  where  his  friends  stood  afar  off 
during  the  crucifixion  ;  where  his  garments  were  parted  ; 
where  he  appeared  to  his  mother  after  the  resurrection, 
and  to  Mary  Magdalene  as  the  gardener.  Not  only  so, 
but  in  the  same  church  are  contained  the  subterranean 
rock-tombs  of  Nicodemus  and  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  the 
tombs  of  Adam  (Eve  is  ignored),  Melchisedek,  John  the 
Baptist,  and  “the  centre  of  the  world  !”* 

*  Jerusalem  is  actually,  though  not  geographically,  the  centre  of  Pal¬ 
estine.  Rabbinical  writers  compare  the  world  to  an  eye,  the  ocean  to  the 


CAL  VAR  K 


265 


It  is  an  amazing  tax  on  our  credulity  that  we  should 
believe  in  the  identity  of  these  sites.  The  whole  thing  is 
overdone  and  thus  almost  undone.  To  be  sure,  millions  of 
Catholics,  Greek  and  Roman,  have  no  more  doubt  about 
the  genuineness  of  these  localities  than  they  have  about 
the  crucifixion  and  resurrection  itself,  and  deem  it  pro¬ 
fane  to  call  in  question  a  tradition  so  old,  venerable,  and 
general.  But  a  Protestant  who  puts  his  Bible  above  all 
the  traditions  of  men,  and  the  worship  of  God  in  spirit 
and  in  truth  above  all  forms  and  ceremonies,  has  certain¬ 
ly  a  right  to  demand  good  reasons  for  all  this.  The 
Church  has  never  claimed  geographical  and  topographical 
infallibility,  and  it  is  no  heresy  to  dissent  from  any  of 
the  monkish  traditions  concerning  the  holy  places  in 
Palestine.  The  one  great,  we  may  say  the  only  argu¬ 
ment  in  favor  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  as  the 
true  Calvary  or  Golgotha,  is  the  unbroken  tradition  which 
certainly  runs  back  to  the  age  of  Constantine  without  a 
dissenting  voice.  This  argument  has  been  eloquently 
stated  by  Chateaubriand  and  repeated  over  and  over  by 
Catholic  and  Protestant  writers.  It  seems  impossible 
that  the  Christians  of  Jerusalem  should  ever  have  for¬ 
gotten  or  lost  sight  of  the  place  where  their  blessed  Lord 
and  Saviour  died  for  our  sins  and  rose  for  our  justification. 
But  this  assumption  is  weakened  by  the  absence  of  any 
definite  information  about  the  locality  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  and  the  writers  before  Constantine,  by  the  utter 

white  of  the  eye,  Palestine  to  the  pupil,  the  temple  to  the  image  in  the 
pupil  of  the  eye.  This  idea  passed  into  the  Church.  Jerome  calls  Jerusa¬ 
lem  “  the  navel  of  the  earth  ”  {umbilicus  terrce). 


Bible  Lands. 


266 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


demolition  and  desecration  of  the  city  under  Titus  and 
again  under  Hadrian,  and  by  the  fact  that  the  discovery 
of  the  site  of  Calvary  is  ascribed  by  all  ecclesiastical 
writers  of  the  Nicene  and  post-Nicene  age  to  a  stupen¬ 
dous  miracle,  v/hich  was  entirely  unnecessary  if  the  site 
was  known  before. 

But  admitting  the  miracle  of  the  discovery,  there  is  an 
almost  insurmountable  topographical  objection  against 
the  traditional  site.  The  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
lies  withhi  the  present  wall  of  the  city ;  while  the  cruci¬ 
fixion,  according  to  infallible  authority,  took  place  outside 
of  the  old  city.  The  old  city  was  much  larger  and  more 
densely  inhabited  than  the  present,  and  consequently 
more  likely  to  include  the  site  of  that  church  than  to  ex¬ 
clude  it.  This  is  the  antecedent  probability.  The  cham¬ 
pions  of  the  tradition  therefore  are  bound  to  prove  that 
the  location  of  the  city  has  greatly  changed,  and  that  the 
second  wall  of  Josephus  (which  ran  circuitously  from  the 
Gate  Gennath,  i.  e.,  the  Garden  Gate,  near  the  tower  of 
Hippicus  to  the  fortress  Antonia  on  the  north  of  the  Tem¬ 
ple-area)  exclu.ded  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.* 
This  has  not  been  proved.  It  is  possible,  but  very  im¬ 
probable.  Diligent  search  for  wall  foundations  has  failed 

*  All  that  Josephus  says  of  the  second  wall  is  this  {Bell.  Jud.  V.  4,  2) : 
“The  second  wall  had  its  beginning  from  the  gate  called  Gennath,  which 
belonged  to  the  first  wall ;  and,  encircling  only  the  northern  quarter  of 
the  city,  it  extended  as  far  as  the  tower  Antonia.”  All  three  walls  (as  de¬ 
scribed  by  Josephus  in  the  same  chapter  of  the  fifth  book)  began  at  the 
tower  of  Hippicus,  near  the  present  Jaffa  Gate.  The  second  wall  proba¬ 
bly  ran  northward  from  the  citadel  to  the  Latin  Convent  and  to  the  Da¬ 
mascus  Gate,  where  traces  of  an  ancient  wall  were  found.  See  Robinson’s 
Later  Researches  (1856),  page  219. 


CAL  VAR  V. 


267 


so  far.*  And  even  if  the  sepulchre  could  be  shown  to 
have  been  outside  of  the  second  wall  of  the  ancient  city, 
it  is  certainly  far  within  the  third  wall  which  was  built 
by  Herod  Agrippa  only  ten  or  eleven  years  after  the 
crucifixion,  to  enclose  a  large  suburb  (twice  as  large  as 
the  old  city)  that  had  gradually  extended  beyond  the 
second  wall.  The  words  “without  the  gate”  (Heb. 
13  ;  12)  and  “  nigh  to  the  city”  (John  19:20),  could  scarce¬ 
ly  mean  “within  the  suburbs.” 

The  first  who  ventured  to  question  the  traditional 
site  was  a  German  bookseller,  Jonas  Korte,  who  visited 
Jerusalem  in  1738.  A  hundred  years  later  Dr.  Robinson 
of  New  York  subjected  the  matter  to  a  calm  critical  ex¬ 
amination  and  came  reluctantly  to  the  conclusion,  mostly 
from  topographical  considerations,  that  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  cannot  be  genuine.f  His  view  was 
adopted  by  Dr.  Titus  Tobler  (an  indefatigable  Swiss 
investigator  who  was  four  times  in  Palestine,  in  1835, 
1845,  1857,  and  1865),  Herm.  Hupfeld  (1861),  Fr.  Arnold 
(1864),  John  Wilson,  Barclay,  Bonar,  Fergusson,  Porter, 
Meyer,  Ewald  and  other  Protestant  scholars.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  old  tradition  has  found  learned  and  able 
advocates  not  only  among  Roman  Catholics  as  De  Vogu6, 
De  Saulcy  and  Sepp,  but  also  among  Protestants,  espe- 

*  The  ruins  near  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  which  have  been 
supposed  by  G.  Williams  and  others  to  be  fragments  of  the  second  wall, 
have  proved  to  be  portions  of  a  church;  and  the  old  arch  called  the  Gate 
Gennath  is  a  comparatively  recent  building.  See  Recovery  of  yerusalem, 
pages  9  and  208. 

t  See  his  argument  in  “Biblical  Researches,”  Vol.  I.  407-418;  III. 
254-263  (Boston  ed.  of  1856),  and  in  “Bibliotheca  Sacra”  for  August  and 
November,  1847, 


268 


BIBLE  LANDS, 


cially  Rev.  George  Williams  (for  many  years  chaplain  of 
the  Anglican  Bishop  Alexander  in  Jerusalem),*  Prof. 
William  Krafft,  of  Bonn  (1845),  Ritter  (1852),  the  Prus¬ 
sian  Consuls  in  Jerusalem,  Drs.  Shultz  (1845)  and  Ro¬ 
sen  (1863),  by  Von  Schubert,  Raumer,  Furrer,  F.  A. 
Strauss,  Olin,  Levvin,  and  others.  The  argument  has 
been  pretty  well  exhausted  on  both  sides  by  Robinson 
and  Williams.  The  excavations  of  the  Palestine  Explo¬ 
ration  Fund  have  thrown  no  new  light  on  the  subject,  and 
unless  some  new  e.xcavation  should  determine  the  course 
of  the  second  wall  of  the  ancient  city,  opinions  will  con¬ 
tinue  to  be  divided  on  the  question  of  the  Holy  Sepul¬ 
chre.  The  opponents  of  the  traditional  site  have  so  far 
the  best  of  the  topographical  argument,  but  labor  under 
the  disadvantage  of  being  unable  to  point  definitely  to 
another  locality  ;  for  Fergusson’s  view,f  which  locates 
Calvary  on  Mount  Moriah,  is  untenable,  because  Moriah 
must  have  been  within  the  city  limits. 

Were  I  to  look  for  the  site  of  the  true  Calvary  in  the 
present  Jerusalem,  untrammelled  by  ecclesiastical  tradi¬ 
tion  and  controversy,  I  would  find  it  on  a  skull-shaped, 
rocky,  isolated  elevation,  a  few  minutes’  walk  north  of 
the  Damascus  Gate,  not  far  from  the  Grotto  of  Jeremiah, 
where  the  prophet,  according  to  tradition,  is  said  to  have 
written  his  Lamentations.  This  elevation  is  about  half  a 
mile  from  the  site  of  the  fortress  Antonia  (Pilate’s  judg¬ 
ment-hall),  and  the  same  distance  from  Mount  Zion  (Her- 

*  See  his  “The  Holy  City,”  London,  second  edition,  1849,  2  vols. 
He  is  the  chief  opponent  of  Robinson,  and  apologizes  in  the  preface  to 
the  second  edition,  for  his  unnecessary  severity. 

t  See  his  article  Jerusalem  in  Smith’s  “Bible  Dictionary.” 


CAL  VAR  K 


269 


od's  palace).  It  is  on  the  highway  to  Damascus  ;  it  is 
encircled  by  rock  caverns  and  tombs.  It  thus  answers 
all  the  requirements  of  the  gospel  narrative  better  than 
any  other  locality  I  have  seen  around  the  city.  It  is  be¬ 
lieved  to  be  the  site  of  the  true  Calvary  by  Bishop  Go- 
bat  (as  I  was  informed),  and  by  Mr.  Conrad  Schick  (who 
kindly  conducted  me  over  a  large  part  of  the  city).  Mr. 
Schick  (from  Wllrtemberg),  an  architect  and  superinten¬ 
dent  of  an  industrial  missionary  school,  is  from  long  res¬ 
idence  thoroughly  posted  in  Jerusalem  topography,  and 
several  times  honorably  mentioned  in  the  reports  of  the 
English  Exploration  Eund,  and  in  Bildeker’s  Handbook. 
He  has  constructed  the  best  models  of  Jerusalem,  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  and  of  the  Tabernacle.  He  holds  his 
view  of  the  site  of  Calvary  with  becoming  modesty.  For 
in  the  absence  of  all  tradition,  and  in  view  of  the  many 
changes  which  the  surface  of  the  city  has  undergone,  it 
would  be  presumptuous  to  venture  on  categorical  asser¬ 
tions.* 

Perhaps  it  is  all  the  better  that  we  should  not  know 
the  precise  spot.  God  buried  Moses  out  of  the  sight  of 
men  and  out  of  the  reach  of  idolatry.  The  earthly  Calvary 
may  be  hidden  from  our  view,  that,  instead  of  cleaving  to- 
earth,  we  may  look  to  heaven  where  Christ  is  enthroned 
in  glory.  There  is  a  better  Calvary,  which,  like  the  man¬ 
ger  of  the  Nativity  and  the  spot  of  the  Ascension,  has  a 
spiritual  omnipresence  in  Christendom,  and  is  imbedded 

*  A  similar  view  was,  independently,  defended  by  the  late  Fisher 
Howe  of  Brooklyn,  who,  however,  locates  Calvary  a  little  farther  east  on 
the  Grotto  of  Jeremiah.  See  his  pamphlet,  “The  True  Site  of  Calvary,” 
New  York  (Randolph’s),  1871. 

2o* 


270 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


in  the  memory  and  affection  of  every  believer.  The  true 
cross  is  not  the  piece  of  wood  found  or  “  invented  ”  by 
St.  Helena  and  fraudulently  multiplied  a  hundredfold  all 
over  Christendom,  but  that  spiritual  tree  of  life  which 
bears  healing  fruit  to  every  age  and  country,  and  to  which 
the  beautiful  lines  of  Venantius  Fortunatus  apply: 

“Faithful  cross  !  abova  all  other 
One  and  only  noble  tree  ! 

None  in  foliage,  none  in  blossom, 

None  in  fruit  thy  peers  may  be. 

Sweetest  wood  and  sweetest  iron, 

Sweetest  weight  is  hung  on  thee.” 


MOUNT  OLIVET. 


271 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

MOUNT  OLIVET. 

Jerusalem  built  on  Hills  and  surrounded  by  Hills — 
Olivet  in  the  Gospels  —  Crossing  the  Kedron  — 
Gethsemane — The  Spot  of  the  Ascension — Beth¬ 
any —  Martha  and  Mary  — The  Resurrection  of 
Lazarus — Farewell  to  Bethany. 

There  are  “mountains  round  about  Jerusalem.” 
Like  Rome,  Jerusalem  is  built  on  hills  and  surrounded 
by  hills.  It  is  2,500  feet  above  the  Mediterranean,  and 
3,700  feet  above  the  Dead  Sea.  From  the  east  and  from 
the  west  there  is  a  steady  ascent  to  it ;  hence  the  phrase 
“to  go  up  to  Jerusalem.”  It  stands  on  the  mountain 
ridge  which  runs  from  north  to  south  and  forms  the 
backbone  of  Palestine.  It  is  built  upon  Mount  Zion  in 
the  southwest  and  the  lower  Mount  Moriah  in  the  east. 
These  two  hills  are  separated  by  the  Tyropoeon  or  Cheese¬ 
mongers’  Valley  (which  is  nearly  filled  up  with  rubbish). 
Both  are  surrounded  by  ravines,  which  unite  with  the 
Tyropoeon  in  the  south,  Zion  by  the  valley  of  Hinnom, 
Moriah  by  the  valley  of  the  Kedron  or  Jehoshaphat.  The 
best  place  from  which  to  study  the  panorama  for  orienta¬ 
tion  is  Mount  Olivet,  with  the  Bible  in  the  right  hand 
and  Josephus  in  the  left.  There  you  see  the  holy  city  in 
her  lonely  melancholy  grandeur,  with  her  walls  and  towers, 
her  churches,  mosques,  and  dome-roofed  houses.  It  is  the 
saddest,  and  yet  the  most  impressive  view  in  the  world. 


2/2 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Mount  Olivet,  or  the  Mount  of  Olives  (called  by  the 
Arabs  “Jebel  et-Tur”),  is  separated  from  Jerusalem  by 
the  deep  and  narrow  valley  of  the  Kedron.  It  over¬ 
tops  the  Temple  hill  by  300  feet,  and  rises  2,724  feet 
above  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  Whatever  doubt  may 
attach  to  Christ’s  presence  in  any  of  the  man-made 
streets  of  modern  Jerusalem,  which  lies  on  the  ruins  of 
older  Jerusalems,  we  are  sure  of  the  locality  of  this  God- 
made  mountain,  which  has  indeed  been  denuded  of  its 
forests  and  verdure,  and  looks  barren  and  neglected,  yet 
has  not  lost  its  identity,  and  cannot  be  changed  in  its 
essential  features.  It  is  very  prominent  in  the  closing 
scenes  of  our  Saviour’s  ministry.  In  Bethany,  on  the 
eastern  slope  of  Olivet,  he  had  his  most  intimate  friends, 
Lazarus,  Martha,  and  Mary,  and  performed  his  last  and 
greatest  miracle  ;*  from  Mount  Olivet  he  made  his  tri¬ 
umphal  entry  into  Jerusalem  ;f  here  he  spent  the  nights 
intervening  between  the  entry  and  his  passion,  and  re¬ 
turned  every  morning  to  teach  in  the  temple  descend¬ 
ing  from  this  mountain,  he  wept  over  the  ungrateful  city 
and  foretold  her  fearful  doom  ;§  to  it  he  repaired  in  the 
night  of  his  betrayal  ;1|  from  it  he  ascended  to  heaven  to 
take  possession  of  his  throne.^  And  there  he  reigns 
ever  since,  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  corporeally 
absent,  but,  according  to  his  solemn  promisef* * §  spiritually 

*  John  II  :  I  ;  12  :  l  seq.  ;  comp.  Luke  10 ;  38-42. 

t  Matt.  21  : 1  ;  Mark  ii  :  i  ;  Luke  ig  :  29-38. 

t  Luke  21  :37. 

§  Luke  21  : 41-44;  comp.  ver.  37. 

II  John  18  :  I  ;  Matt.  26  :  36  ;  Mark  14:22;  Luke  22  :  39. 

T  Luke  24  ;  50 ;  Acts  1:12.  **  Matt.  28 :  20. 


BETHANY, 


V 


> 


•  v 


1! 


•t.  n  . 

■  ■  '  ’i  . '  i  S' 

•  isii  ■ 


MOUNT  OLIVET. 


273 


and  dynamically  omnipresent  in  his  Church,  which  is  “his 
body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all,”*  until 
he  shall  visibly  descend  from  heaven,  even  as  he  ascend- 
ed.f 

When  Jesus  passed  out  of  St.  Stephen’s  Gate  (the 
ancient  Fish-gate)  down  the  ravine,  and  crossed  that 
black  winter  torrent  called  Kedron  (i.  e.,  the  Black 
Brook),  which  is  formed  by  the  winter  rains,  but  is  entire¬ 
ly  dry  in  summer  (even  in  April  as  far  as  my  experience 
goes),  it  was  far  more  than  Caesar’s  crossing  the  Rubicon 
for  the  military  conquest  of  the  world  ;  it  was  the  pas¬ 
sage  which  decided  the  moral  and  eternal  redemption  of 
the  world.  David,  betrayed  by  Ahithophel,  one  of  his 
body-guard,  took  the  same  course  in  his  flight  from  his 
rebellious  son  Absalom| — a  remarkable  parallel,  the  typi¬ 
cal  import  of  which  Jesus  himself  pointed  out.§  In  the 
garden  of  Gethsemane  (z.  e.,  Oil-press),  at  the  foot  of 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  he  was  overwhelmed  with  sorrow 
and  anguish,  and  endured  the  mysterious  agony  with  all 
the  powers  of  darkness,  in  the  stead  and  in  behalf  of  a 
fallen  race.  Here  he  was  betrayed  by  the  Judas-kiss, 
which  he  anticipated  and  made  meaningless.  Here  the 
heathen  garrison  and  the  Jewish  temple  guard  combined 
under  the  lead  of  the  traitor,  against  the  one  unarmed 
Jesus  ;  and  yet,  made  cowards  by  conscience  and  over¬ 
awed  by  the  superhuman  majesty  of  Jesus,  like  the  pro¬ 
fane  traffickers  in  the  temple,  they  fell  to  the  ground 
before  his  “  I  am  He!”  The  same  words  which  cheered 
his  trembling  disciples  on  the  stormy  lake  and  after  the 

*  Eph.  I  :  23.  t  Acts  I  :  II.  \  2  Sam.  15  :  23,  §  John  13  :  18. 


274 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


resurrection,  are  here  words  of  terror  to  his  enemies,  and 
will  be  on  the  day  of  judgment. 

There  is  no  evidence  to  prove,  but  no  good  reason  to 
deny,  the  identity  of  the  spot  now  shown  as  Gethsem- 
ANE.  Some  think  it  is  too  near  the  city  and  the  thorough¬ 
fare  for  a  place  of  retirement  in  that  dangerous  and  dis¬ 
mal  night.  We  reach  it  by  an  easy  walk  through  St. 
Stephen’s  Gate  over  the  dry  bed  of  the  Kedron.  It  lies 
on  the  slope  of  Mount  Olivet,  and  is  in  the  possession  of 
the  Franciscans,  It  is  a  garden  with  seven  or  eight  ma¬ 
jestic  olive-trees,  which  are  perhaps  the  oldest  and  cer¬ 
tainly  the  most  venerable  trees  in  the  world,  though  of 
course  not  of  the  time  of  our  Lord — for  Titus  cut  down 
all  the  trees  round  the  city  during  the  siege.  But  they 
may  have  sprouted  from  the  roots  of  the  original  trees. 
The  garden  is  enclosed  by  a  new  wall,  and  kept  in  very 
good  order.  A  kind  old  Franciscan  monk  gave  us  olive 
leaves  and  flowers  from  this  ever-memorable  spot.  The 
Greek  Gethsemane  is  a  short  distance  north  of  the  Latin, 
and  marked  by  a  rude  chapel  in  the  rock.  The  two  tra¬ 
ditions  may  be  reconciled  by  supposing  that  the  Geth¬ 
semane  of  the  Greek  Church  was  the  interior  part  of  the 
garden,  to  which  the  Saviour  retired  for  prayer. 

From  Gethsemane  we  ascend  in  a  few  minutes  to  the 
height  of  Mount  Olivet,  so  famous  for  the  crowning 
scene  in  the  earthly  life  of  our  Lord.  St.  Helena  built 
the  Church  of  the  Ascension  on  one  of  the  three  sum¬ 
mits.  Other  churches  and  convents  were  built  by  the 
Crusaders  to  memorialize  particular  events.  The  moun¬ 
tain  is  now  barren  and  neglected,  in  the  hands  of  the 


MOUNT  OLIVET. 


275 


Moslems.  A  few  scattered  olive-trees  only  are  left  to 
justify  its  name.  A  little  care  and  cultivation  would 
make  it  very  attractive.  It  affords  the  finest  view  of 
Jerusalem  and  Mount  Moriah,  while  in  the  east  the 
mountains  of  Moab,  parts  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  the 
Jordan  are  clearly  seen.  Here  and  on  the  neighboring 
Mount  Scopus  the  Roman  army  was  encamped  during 
the  siege. 

Tradition  fixes  the  Ascension  on  the  middle  summit, 
in  full  sight  of  Jerusalem,  but  in  plain  contradiction  to 
the  narrative  of  Luke,  who  locates  it  near  Bethany,  on  the 
retired  eastern  slope  of  the  mountain.*  No  importance, 
of  course,  can  be  attached  to  the  mark  of  the  foot  of  the 
ascending  Jesus,  pointed  out  in  the  Mohammedan  mosque, 
but  the  mosque  is  well  worth  ascending  on  account  of 
the  magnificent  view  it  affords  over  the  most  historic  of 
all  the  historic  regions  on  earth.  A  short  distance  from 
it  a  Russian  lady  erected  a  fine  dwellinghouse.  A  little 
south  of  it  the  French  Princesse  Latour  d’ Auvergne,  a 
relative  of  Napoleon  III.,  built,  in  1868,  a  church  in  the 
style  of  a  campo  santo  over  the  spot  where  Christ  is  said 
to  have  taught  his  disciples  the  Lord’s  Prayer,  and  caused 
this  Prayer  of  prayers  to  be  inscribed  on  thirty-one  slabs 
in  as  many  different  languages,  as  a  symbol  of  the  unity 
and  universality  of  Christian  devotion.  A  monument  in 
white  marble  perpetuates  her  memory.  West  of  this 

*  Luke  24  :  50  :  “  And  he  led  them  out  as  far  as  to  (euf  f/f)  Bethany,” 
or,  according  to  the  true  reading,  “over  against  or  towards  Bethany” 
(euf  Trpo?  T7jv  BTi-&aviav).  In  Acts  l,  Luke  says  nothing  of  the  locality,  but 
presupposes  his  previous  statement.  Mark  (16:19)  likewise  is  silent 
about  the  locality  of  the  ascension. 


276 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


church  we  visited  the  chapel  commemorating  the  com¬ 
position  of  the  Apostles’  Creed,  according  to  a  tradition 
not  older  than  the  fourth  century,  and  long  since  disproved 
as  untenable.  This  Creed  of  creeds  is  apostolic  indeed 
in  spirit  and  power,  but  not  in  form,  and  gradually  grew 
up  from  the  inner  life  of  the  ancient  Church. 

From  the  top  of  Mount  Olivet  it  is  an  easy  descent 
to  Bethany  on  its  southeastern  declivity.  It  can  also  be 
reached  by  the  road  to  Jericho  which  leads  round  the 
mountain.  It  is  only  two  miles*  from  Jerusalem.  It  is 
now  a  miserable  village  of  about  forty  hovels,  inhabited 
by  beggarly  Mohammedans.  They  call  it,  in  honor  of 
Lazarus,  “  El-Azariyeh,”  and  show  the  house  of  Martha 
and  Mary,  the  house  of  Simon  the  leper,  the  tower  of  Laz¬ 
arus,  and  his  reputed  sepulchre,  a  wretched  cavern  in  the 
limestone  rock,  like  a  cellar,  with  about  twenty-five  steps, 
to  which  we  descend  by  the  dim  light  of  a  taper.  There 
is  no  probability  of  the  genuineness  of  these  particular 
localities  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  grave  of  Lazarus  was  some 
distance  from  the  village. 

Bethany  is  pleasantly  located,  has  good  water,  and 
is  surrounded  by  cultivated  spots  and  numerous  fig, 
olive,  almond,  and  carob  trees.  It  was  once  a  home  of 
peace,  inhabited  by  three  children  of  peace  and  visited 
by  the  Prince  of  peace.  It  was  the  sacred  spot  of  the 
friendship  of  Jesus.  Here  he  revealed  more  of  his  hu- 
uian  nature  than  elsewhere.  Here  he  enjoyed  the  hos¬ 
pitality  of  Martha,  the  practical  housekeeper,  and  allowed 
her  contemplative  sister  Mary  to  sit  at  his  feet  and  to 

*  Fifteen  furlongs,  John  ii  :  iS.  A  furlong  or  stadium  is  125  paces. 


MOUNT  OLIVET. 


277 


perform,  in  the  foreboding  presentiment  of  his  death, 
that  touching  service  of  devoted  love  for  which  she  will 
be  commemorated  to  the  end  of  time.  Here  he  wept  tears 
of  friendship  over  the  grave  of  Lazarus  “  whom  he  loved.” 
The  eternal  Son  of  God  dissolved  in  tears !  How  far 
more  natural,  lovely,  and  attractive  is  a  weeping,  sympa¬ 
thizing  Saviour,  than  a  cold,  heartless  stoic !  How  near 
these  tears  bring  him  to  every  child  of  sorrow  and  grief ! 
But  here  also  he  revealed  himself  as  the  Resurrection 
and  the  Life,  and  wrought  the  greatest  of  miracles  by  the 
creative  words,  “  Lazarus,  come  forth  !  This  act  is  a  seal 
of  his  divinity  and  a  pledge  of  our  future  resurrection. 
There  is  no  escape  from  the  plain,  circumstantial  narra¬ 
tive  of  John,  one  of  the  eyewitnesses.  We  must  admit 
the  truth,  or  resort  to  the  disgraceful  hypothesis  of  impos¬ 
ture,  which  explains  nothing,  but  perverts  the  supernatu¬ 
ral  miracle  into  an  unnatural  monstrosity.  Spinoza  said 
to  his  friends,  if  he  could  believe  the  resurrection  of  Laz¬ 
arus,  he  would  dash  to  pieces  his  entire  system  of  phi¬ 
losophy,  and  embrace  without  repugnance  the  common 
faith  of  Christians.  This  is  sound  reasoning.  If  Christ 
could  raise  the  dead  to  life,  he  could  easily  perform  the 
lesser  miracles  of  healing,  and  must  truly  have  been  the 
eternal  Son  of  God. 

We  left  Bethany  as  we  left  other  spots  in  Palestine, 
for  ever  consecrated  to  memory.  It  is  a  melancholy 
shadow  of  the  past,  but  it  may  again  become,  at  some 
future  day,  a  delightful  suburban  retreat  of  domestic 
happiness  and  peace. 


liihie  Lauda. 


2d 


2/8 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE  CONVENT  OF  MAR  SABA. 

From  Jerusalem  to  the  Dead  Sea— The  Convent  of 
Mar  Saba— A  wonderful  Building  Perched  on 
the  Rocky  Precipice— The  Curiosities— The  Li¬ 
brary— St.  Sabas  and  St.  John  of  Damascus— 
Mar  Saba  and  Mount  Sinai — The  Monks. 

On  a  beautiful  April  day  after  Easter  we  leave  Jeru¬ 
salem  on  an  expedition  to  the  Dead  Sea.  We  pass 
through  the  Via  Dolorosa  and  St.  Stephen’s  Gate  into 
the  dry  valley  of  the  Kedron,  and  ride  over  rocky  hills  to 
the  Convent  of  Mar  Saba,  which  we  reach  in  three  hours. 
The  valley  of  the  Kedron  is  barren  and  desolate,  wild  and 
romantic.  Our  new  dragoman,  Mr.  M.  Ward,  is  an  intel¬ 
ligent,  self-educated  American,  who  came  in  early  youth 
with  the  unfortunate  colony  of  Rev.  Mr.  Adams  to  Jaffa, 
and  remained  with  Mr.  Rolla  Floyd  after  the  colony 
broke  up.  They  are,  from  their  intelligence  and  familiar¬ 
ity  with  the  Bible,  the  very  best  dragomen  in  Palestine. 

Mar  Saba  is  a  fortified  Convent  in  the  desert  of  Ju¬ 
daea,  built  on  the  side  of  a  rocky  precipice,  590  feet  above 
the  ravine  of  the  Kedron.  It  is  the  most  curious  struc¬ 
ture  in  all  Palestine.  Walls,  towers,  buttresses,  chapels, 
and  chambers,  are  perched  upon  rock  terraces,  like 
eagles’  nests.  On  the  opposite  cliffs  we  see  a  number 
of  caves,  once  the  abode  of  hermits,  now  of  jackals,  bats, 
and  owls.  The  whole  has  a  singularly  wild  and  roman- 


THE  CONVENT  OE  MAR  SABA. 


279 


tic,  but  utterly  desolate  aspect.  This  strange  labyrinth 
encloses  St.  Saba’s  sepulchre  in  the  centre  of  a  paved 
court  beneath  a  dome-shaped  mausoleum  (but  without 
his  body,  which  has  been  removed  to  Venice),  his  cave¬ 
dwelling  (once  a  lion’s  den),  the  tomb  of  St.  John  of  Da¬ 
mascus,  a  church,  chapels,  and  cells,  a  grotto  filled  with 
skulls  of  martyred  monks,  and  small  gardens  in  the 
courts,  with  a  few  olive  and  fig  trees. 

The  convent  has  considerable  historical  interest.  It 
was  founded  in  the  fifth  century  by  St.  Sabas,  one  of  the 
greatest  saints  of  the  Greek  Church,  whose  empty  tomb 
and  cave-dwelling  are  still  the  chief  objects  of  devotion. 
It  was  the  residence  of  St.  John  of  Damascus,  who  in  the 
eighth  century  wrote  here  his  great  work  on  the  Ortho¬ 
dox  Faith,  as  St.  Jerome  wrote  his  Vulgate  in  a  cell  in 
the  Church  of  the.  Nativity  in  Bethlehem.  John  of  Da¬ 
mascus  is  the  standard  divine,  we  may  say  the  Thomas 
Aquinas,  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  his  views  on  the  sin¬ 
gle  procession  of  the  Holy  Spirit  were  embodied  in  the 
compromise  of  the  Old  Catholic  Bonn  Conference  of 
1875.  Of  this,  however,  the  monk  who  showed  us  his 
humble  study  and  tomb  knew  nothing  at  ail.  He  could 
not  even  tell  whether  his  books  were  in  the  convent. 
Through  the  happy  reproductions  of  John  Mason  Neale 
some  of  the  resurrection  odes  of  this  great  divine  have 
been  naturalized  in  our  churches  : 

“  ’T  is  the  day  of  resurrection  ! 

Earth,  tell  it  out  abroad,” 

and. 


28o 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


“  Come,  ye  faithful,  raise  the  strain 
Of  triumphant  gladness.” 

The  library  is  said  to  be  very  valuable;  and  the 
monks,  since  they  found  this  out,  after  a  visit  of  Prof. 
Tischendorf,  are  very  reluctant  to  show  it,  and  yet  they 
are  too  ignorant  to  make  any  use  of  it.  Although  I  had 
a  special  permit  from  the  Greek  patriarch  at  Jerusalem,  I 
had  some  difficulty  to  get  access  to  it.  The  usual  printed 
order  “for  the  inspection  of  the  sacred  laura  of  St.  Saba” 
was  accompanied  by  a  postscript  from  the  hand  of  the  pa¬ 
triarch,  or  his  secretary,  “  to  admit  us  also  into  the  library.” 
The  library  is  locked  up  in  a  little  dark  room,  with  one 
grated  window,  above  the  chapel,  and  contains  about  five 
hundred  bound  manuscript  volumes  in  Greek,  mostly  pa¬ 
tristic  works  and  copies  of  the  Gospels.  Some  books  are 
beautifully  written  on  parchment.  I  had  too  little  time 
to  examine  them ;  but  a  biblical  and  patristic  scholar 
who  could  spend  a  few  weeks  here,  or  could  secure  the 
loan  of  the  books,  through  the  patriarch  of  Jerusalem, 
might  find  valuable  treasures,  if  we  are  to  judge  from  the 
good  fortune  of  Dr.  Tischendorf  at  the  Convent  of  Mount 
Sinai.  There  are  there  several  copies  of  the  Greek  Gos¬ 
pels  and  Epistles  as  reported  by  Scholz  and  Coxe,*  which 
may  reward  a  careful  examination.  Coxe  saw  twenty 
copies  of  the  Gospels,  four  of  them  being  of  the  tenth 
century,  five  copies  of  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  and  one  of 
the  Apocalypse  (Scholz  mentions  two). 

*  See  Rev.  H.  O.  Coxe’s  Re/ort  to  Her  Majesty's  Government  of  the 
Creek  Manuscripts  yet  retnaining  in  the  Libraries  of  the  Levant.,  1858,  and 
Scrivener’s  Lntroduction  to  the  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament,  2d  edition, 
])[).  20S,  209,  236,  2/)9. 


PLAIN  ER-RAHAH,  AND  CONVENT  OF  ST.  CATHARINE. 


MAR  SABA  CONVENT,  AND  THE  DEAD  SEA. 


V. 


THE  CONVENT  OF  MAR  SABA. 


281 


Mar  Saba  and  the  Convent  of  Mount  Sinai  resemble 
each  other.  Both  belong  to  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church  ; 
both  lie  in  a  barren  wilderness ;  both  are  forts,  as  well  as 
convents,  and  passed  through  many  vicissitudes  during 
the  struggles  between  Christianity  and  Mohammedan¬ 
ism.  But  in  ignorance  and  stupidity  the  monks  of 
Mar  Saba  (now  sixty  in  number)  excel  even  those  of 
Mount  Sinai.  It  would  be  unfair,  of  course,  to  judge 
the  Greek  Church  from  these  convents,  which  seem  to 
be  used  in  part  as  penal  establishments  for  refractory 
monks.  But  my  general  impression  is  that  the  Greek 
clergy  and  monks  are  more  ignorant  and  superstitious 
than  those  of  the  Latin  Church.  I  met  on  the  road  an 
accomplished  Anglican  clergyman,  of  ritualistic  tendency, 
and  longing  for  union  with  the  venerable  Greek  sister 
Church.  But  the  witnessing  of  the  disgraceful  fraud  of 
the  holy  fire  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  on  the 
Greek  Easter  eve,  and  his  visit  to  Mar  Saba,  seemed  to 
have  cooled  his  zeal.  On  being  asked  how  he  liked  this 
famous  convent,  he  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  com¬ 
plained  bitterly  that  he  was  not  admitted  to  the  library. 
The  monks  gave  us  cistern-water,  which  we  could  hardly 
drink,  and  sour  bread  and  sour  soup,  which  we  could  not 
eat.  Murray’s  “  Handbook”  says  that  Mar  Saba  is  one  of 
the  richest  convents  in  Palestine;  but  the  monks  told  us 
that  they  are  very  poor,  especially  since  the  Russians 
have  withdrawn  their  support.  They  are  all  vegetarians, 
and  forbidden  to  taste  any  meat.  No  woman  has  ever 
been  admitted  to  this  sacred  enclosure.  It  would  be  a 
sin  to  do  so.  In  this  respect  the  convent  of  Sinai  is 

24* 


282 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


more  liberal  and  civilized.  I  could  converse  only  with  two 
monks.  One  spoke  broken  French,  another  Greek.  The 
latter  read  a  little  Greek  pamphlet,  printed  in  Athens, 
which  contained  a  pretended  “  Letter  of  Christ,  found  in 
Gethsemane,  on  the  grave  of  the  Holy  Mother  of  God.” 
It  is,  of  course,  a  pious  fraud.  On  asking  him  why  he 
did  not  rather  read  the  Gospel,  which  contained  the  ge7i- 
tiiiie  words  of  Christ,  I  was  told  that  this  tract  was  shorter 
and  just  as  edifying.  Among  other  things,  he  told  me 
that  the  greatest  fault  of  the  English  and  Americans  was 
that  they  did  not  worship  the  Virgin  Mary,  who  was  next 
to  God.  I  said,  in  reply,  that  Christ,  not  Mary,  was  our 
Saviour,  and  that  faith  in  Christ  alone  could  save  us  ;  to 
which  he  reluctantly  consented. 

We  spent  a  night  in  the  convent  in  a  humble  room, 
sleeping  on  the  floor  and  disturbed  by  vermin,  though 
no  more  than  in  Jerusalem  and  Jericho.  Cleanliness  is 
no  part  of  monastic  holiness,  and  the  proverb,  “  Cleanli¬ 
ness  is  next  to  godliness,”  did  not  originate  in  the  East. 
We  attended  the  chapel  service  at  4  a.  m.,  and  saw  the 
monks  taking  the  daily  communion.  They  had  an  ear¬ 
lier  service  at  2  a.  m.  It  consists  of  reading  prayers  and 
chanting.  If  perfect  isolation  from  the  world  and  all  the 
comforts  and  refinements  of  life  could  save  a  soul,  these 
monks  would  go  to  heaven.  But  there  is  a  surer  and  a 
better  way. 


THE  DEAD  SEA. 


283 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE  DEAD  SEA. 

From  Mar  Saba  to  the  Dead  Sea — A  Salt  Bath — A 
Sea  of  Death — Description  by  Lieut.  Lynch  — 
Physical  Features — Sodom  and  Gomorrah — Lo¬ 
cation  of  the  Vale  of  Siddim — The  Pillar  of  Salt 
— Comparison  of  the  Dead  Sea  with  the  Salt 
Lake  in  Utah — Asiatic  Stagnation  and  Ameri¬ 
can  Progress — Modern  Researches  of  the  Dead 
Sea. 

Leaving  Mar  Saba  at  five  in  the  morning,  after  at¬ 
tending  the  service  of  the  monks,  we  ride  over  sterile 
hills  and  ravines,  and  reach  at  ten  o’clock  the  Dead  Sea, 
or,  as  it  is  called  in  the  Bible,  the  Salt  Sea.* 

Our  minds  look  back  to  the  destruction  of  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah,  and  forward  to  the  still  more  terrible  fu¬ 
ture  judgment  of  those  cities  of  Galilee  which  witnessed 
the  miracles  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  refused  to  believe. 
We  remember  Lot’s  wife,  who,  looking  back  to  the  burn¬ 
ing  cities,  in  disobedience  to  the  Divine  command,  was 
turned  into  a  pillar  of  salt.f 

*  Genesis  14:3  tuv  dXuv  in  the  Sept,  mare  salis  in  the 

Vulg.).  It  is  also  called  the  Eastern  Sea,  Ezek.  47  ;  18  ;  Zech.  14 : 8,  in 
distinction  from  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  Sea  of  the  Plain,  Deut. 
4  : 49.  Josephus  calls  it  the  Asphaltic  Lake,  the  Arabs  Bahr  Lut. 
i.  e.,  the  Sea  of  Lot.  The  name  Dead  Sea  [ddlacaa  vmpd)  originated 
with  Greek  writers,  from  exaggerated  notions  of  its  deadly  climate,  and 
became  current  in  the  Church  since  Eusebius  and  Jerome.  In  the  New 
Testament  it  is  nowhere  alluded  to,  though  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  are 
mentioned. 

t  Gen.  18  and  19;  Deut.  29:23;  comp.  Matt.  11:24;  ~  Pet-  2:6;  Jude  7. 


284 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


As  soon  as  we  have  rested  ourselves  a  little  on  a  log 
of  wood — for  there  is  no  human  habitation  nor  any  kind 
of  shelter  on  the  shore — we  undress  ourselves  and  take 
a  bath  in  the  lake.  We  can  sit,  lie,  and  swim  on  the  sur¬ 
face  of  the  heavy  water  without  difficulty.  At  first  we 
feel  refreshed  after  the  hot  ride ;  but  the  spray  soon  be¬ 
comes  painful  to  the  eye  and  irritating  to  the  skin,  and 
we  feel  the  unpleasant  sensation  till  we  wash  off  the 
pungent  crust  of  salt  by  another  bath  in  the  fresh  waters 
of  the  Jordan. 

The  Dead  Sea,  as  viewed  from  a  distance,  is  not  so 
forbidding  as  one  would  suppose.  It  presents  rather  a 
mournful  picturesqueness.  Its  surface  is  calm  and 
glassy,  blue  and  transparent,  and  reflects  the  hills  of 
Moab,  with  their  brown  and  red  rocks,  broken  clefts  and 
ravines.  Nor  is  it  a  region  of  absolute  death,  as  was  for¬ 
merly  believed.  Swallows,  partridges,  storks,  and  ducks 
have  been  seen  flying  over  it,  and  at  a  little  distance 
from  the  shore  are  found  fresh  fountains  and  streams, 
shrubs,  jungles  of  reeds,  stunted  acacias,  and  palms. 
There  are  even  some  traces  of  former  cultivation,  which 
explain  the  Biblical  allusion  to  “  vineyards  of  Engedi”* — 
the  wilderness  on  the  western  shore  where  David  sought 
refuge  from  the  persecution  of  Saul.  Jewish  Essenes 
and  Christian  hermits  once  lived  in  that  region.  The 
table-lands  on  the  mountains  of  Moab,  which  extend 
along  the  eastern  shore,  are  well  watered,  fertile,  and 

*  Cant.  I  :  14,  “As  a  cluster  of  camphire  in  the  vineyards  of  Engedi.” 
Camphire  is  the  Alhenna  of  the  Arabs,  a  whitish,  fragrant  flower,  hang¬ 
ing  in  clusters  like  grapes. 


THE  DEAD  SEA.  285 

productive.  ‘‘  Although  the  soil  is  badly  tended,”  says 
Professor  Palmer  from  personal  exploration,  “  by  the  few 
and  scattered  Arab  tribes,  who  inhabit  it,  large  tracts  of 
pasture-lands  and  extensive  cornfields  [grainfields]  meet 
the  eye  at  every  turn.  Ruined  villages  and  towns,  bro¬ 
ken  walls  that  once  enclosed  gardens  and  vineyards,  re¬ 
mains  of  ancient  roads — everything  in  Moab  tells  of  the 
immense  wealth  and  population  which  that  country  must 
have  once  enjoyed.”* 

But,  with  these  qualifications,  the  Salt  Sea  is  truly  a 
sea  of  death  and  an  accursed  lake.  No  fish  can  live  in 
it ;  no  tree  grows  on  its  banks  ;  its  air  is  like  the  blast 
of  a  furnace  ;  its  water  is  offensive:  “  Water,  water  ev¬ 
erywhere,  but  not  a  drop  to  drink.”  The  shores  are  bar¬ 
ren  and  scorched,  and  incrusted  with  a  thin  coating  of 
salt,  in  which  horse  and  man  sink  at  every  step.  Some 
dead  driftwood,  carried  down  by  the  Jordan,  lies  scat¬ 
tered  on  the  shore.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more 
desolate  and  God-forsaken  region  on  the  earth.  Even 
the  wilderness  of  Sinai  has  some  redeeming  features  in 
its  grandeur  and  occasional  oases  : 

“  But  here,  above,  around,  below. 

In  mountain  or  in  glen. 

Nor  tree,  nor  plant,  nor  shrub,  nor  flower, 

Nor  aught  of  vegetation  power. 

The  wearied  eye  may  ken  ; 

But  all  its  rocks  at  random  thrown. 

Salt  waves,  bare  crags,  and  banks  of  stone.” 

In  this  judgment  all  travellers  agree.  Lieutenant 
Lynch  calls  more  particularly  the  southern  shore,  where 

*  T/ie  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  Part  II.,  p.  473,  seq. 


286 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


the  catastrophe  of  the  cities  of  the  plain  is  usually  loca¬ 
ted,  “  a  scene  of  unmitigated  desolation.  On  one  side, 
rugged  and  worn,  was  the  salt  mountain  of  Usdum,  with 
its  conspicuous  pillar,  which  reminded  us  at  least  of  the 
catastrophe  of  the  plain  ;  on  the  other  were  the  lofty  and 
barren  cliffs  of  Moab,  in  one  of  the  caves  of  which  the 
fugitive  Lot  found  shelter.  To  the  south  was  an  exten¬ 
sive  flat  intersected  by  sluggish  drains,  with  the  high 
hills  of  Edom  semi-girdling  the  salt  plain  where  the  Is¬ 
raelites  repeatedly  overthrew  their  enemies  ;  and  to  the 
north  was  the  calm  and  motionless  sea,  curtained  with  a 
purple  mist,  while  many  fathoms  deep  in  the  slimy  mud 
beneath  it  lay  imbedded  the  ruins  of  the  ill-fated  cities 
of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  The  glare  of  light  was  blind¬ 
ing  to  the  eye,  and  the  atmosphere  difficult  of  respira¬ 
tion.  No  bird  fanned  with  its  wings  the  attenuated  air 
through  which  the  sun  poured  his  scorching  rays  upon 
the  mysterious  element  on  which  we  floated,  and  which 
alone,  of  all  the  works  of  its  Maker,  contains  no  living 
thing  within  it.”* 

Aside  from  its  forbidding  character  and  hostility  to 
the  life  of  man  and  animal,  the  Dead  Sea  is  a  most  re¬ 
markable  phenomenon.  It  is  the  lowest  depression  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  It  lies  about  1,300  feet  beneath 
the  Mediterranean  Sea ;  it  receives  the  waters  of  the 
Jordan  six  miles  south  of  Jericho,  and  has  no  outlet,  and 
can  have  none,  as  the  ground  rises  on  its  southern  shore ; 
the  evaporation  is  sufficient  to  carry  off  the  supply  of 

*■  Narrative  of  the  U,  S.  Expcditiott  to  the  River  fordan  a?td  the  Dead 
Sea,  p.  310. 


THE  DEAD  SEA. 


287 


water  from  without.  It  forms  an  oval,  and  measures 
about  forty  miles  in  length  and  nine  in  breadth.  It  is 
nearly  the  size  of  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  but  differs  from 
it  as  a  lake  of  Gehenna  from  a  lake  of  Paradise.  Its 
lowest  depth  is  1,308  feet.  The  water  is  heavily  charged 
with  salt ;  its  specific  gravity  is  greater  than  that  of  any 
other  water  known.  The  body  floats  on  the  surface  like  a 
log  of  wood.  The  ordinary  sea-water  has  about  four  per 
cent,  of  salt ;  the  Dead  Sea  water  more  than  twenty-six 
per  cent. 

The  formation  of  the  lake  basin  is  supposed  by  some 
modern  writers  to  be  wholly  due  to  the  action  of  the 
water.  It  seems  to  be  a  pool  left  by  the  ocean  on  its 
retreat. 

This  is  not  in  conflict  with  the  narrative  in  Genesis, 
ch.  19,  for  this  ascribes  the  overthrow  of  Sodom  and  Go¬ 
morrah,  not  to  volcanic  action  of  the  earth,  but  to  the 
raining  of  brimstone  and  fire  “  out  of  heaven.”  Nor  is  it 
anywhere  stated  in  the  Bible  that  the  Dead  Sea  is  the 
result  of  this  catastrophe,  as  the  popular  view  supposes. 
The  lake  is  no  doubt  older  than  those  cities,  and  was 
also  smaller  than  at  present,  extending  perhaps  only  to 
the  peninsula  El  Lisan,  but  by  some  convulsion  of  na¬ 
ture  it  was  made  to  overflow  its  former  limits.  Dr.  Rob¬ 
inson  supposes  that  a  conflagration  and  earthquake,  or 
volcanic  action  combined,  consumed  and  scooped  out  the 
surface  of  the  plain  itself,  so  that  the  waters  of  the  lake 
rushing  in,  spread  themselves  out  over  the  once  fertile 
tract. 

The  location  of  the  vale  of  Siddim,  or  the  cities  of 


288 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


the  plain,  is  a  matter  of  dispute.  The  traditional  view, 
which  is  advocated  by  Dr.  Robinson  and  Lieut.  Lynch, 
places  them  at  the  southern  end  of  the  lake,  while  some 
modern  writers  remove  them  to  the  northern  end  on  the 
east  of  the  Jordan. 

The  former  view  dates  from  Josephus  and  Jerome, 
who  speak  of  Zoar,  to  which  Lot  fled  and  which  was  near 
Sodom  (Gen.  19:20),  as  being  at  the  southern  extremity 
of  the  present  lake  (probably  in  the  mouth  of  the  Wady 
Kerak).*  It  is  supported  by  the  following  arguments  : 

1.  Abraham  saw  the  rising  smoke  of  the  doomed  cities 
from  Mamre,  or  a  hill-top  near  Hebron  (Gen.  19:27,  28). 
This  was  impossible  if  the  cities  were  on  the  northern 
border. 

2.  The  Bible  informs  us  (Gen.  14 :  10)  that  the  vale  of 
Siddim  near  the  Salt  Sea  was  full  of  “  slime-pits,”  that  is, 
wells  of  bitumen  or  asphaltum,  which  burns  like  oil.  On 
the  south  shore,  and  there  only,  masses  of  bitumen 
encrusted  with  sulphur  have  been  found. f  Perhaps  the 
houses  of  those  doomed  cities  were  built  of  bituminous 

*  The  traditional  site  of  Zoar  is  at  the  ruins  of  Dra’a,  some  little  dis¬ 
tance  from  the  lake,  on  the  road  to  Kerak,  in  a  spot  abounding  with  palm- 
trees.  It  was  an  Episcopal  see  under  the  archbishop  of  Petra,  and  was 
represented  in  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  (451). 

t  “After  the  earthquake  of  1834,  a  large  quantity  of  asphaltum  was  cast 
upon  the  shore  near  the  southwest  part  of  the  lake,  of  which  one  tribe  of 
Arabs  brought  about  sixty  hintars  (cwt.)  to  market,  and  a  large  amount 
was  purchased  by  the  Frank  merchants  of  Beirut.  Again,  after  the  great 
earthquake  of  January,  1837,  which  destroyed  Safed,  a  large  mass  of  bitu¬ 
men  (one  said  like  an  island,  another  like  a  house)  was  discovered  floating 
in  the  sea,  and  was  driven  aground  on  the  west  side,  not  far  from  Jebel 
Usdum.  The  neighboring  Arabs  swam  off  around  it,  and  cut  it  up  with 
axes,  so  as  to  bring  it  ashore.”  Robinson,  Physical  Geography  of  the  Holy 
Land,  pp.  220,  221. 


THE  DEAD  SEA. 


2^89 

limestone  and  cemented  with  bitumen,  so  that  when  igni¬ 
ted  by  lightning  from  heaven  they  would  burn  like  “a 
furnace”  (Gen.  19:27,  28). 

3.  Recent  explorations  have  shown  the  southern  part 
of  the  lake  to  be  shallow,  and  nowhere  more  than  twelve 
or  thirteen  feet  deep,  while  the  northern  part  has  a  depth 
of  over  1,300  feet. 

On  the  other  hand.  Canon  Tristram  pleads  for  the 
northern  site,  especially  on  the  ground  of  his  alleged  but 
doubtful  identification  of  the  Biblical  Zoar  with  the  ruins 
of  the  Arab  village  Zi’ara,  on  the  brow  of  a  spur  of  Mount 
Nebo,  at  the  head  of  the  Dead  Sea.  He  maintains  that 
the  “plain,”  must  have  been  in  the  “ciccar”  (circle)  or 
“ghor”  of  the  Jordan,  as  that  region,  when  selected  by 
Lot,  was  well  watered,  “  even  as  the  garden  of  the  Lord, 
like  the  land  of  Egypt”  (Gen.  13:  10-12).*  But  this  may 
have  applied  just  as  well  to  the  southern  shore.  “  Even  at 
the  present  day,”  says  Dr.  Robinson,  “  more  living  streams 
flow  into  the  south  end  of  the  sea  than  are  to  be  found 
so  near  together  in  all  Palestine ;  and  the  tract,  although 
now  mostly  a  desert,  is  still  better  watered  through  these 
streams  and  by  the  many  fountains,  than  any  other  dis¬ 
trict  throughout  the  whole  country.” 

We  adhere  therefore  to  the  traditional  view.  The 
Arab  legend  of  the  catastrophe  of  the  vale  of  Siddim, 

*  The  Lajid  of  Moab  pp.  343,  seq.  The  same  view  was  advocated  by 
Grove  in  Smith’s  Bible  Diet,  (in  articles  Sodom  and  Zoar),  by  Captain 
Wilson  (in  Quarterly  Statevient  of  the  Palesti7te  Exploration  FicndjSio.  4), 
and  Professor  Palmer  {The  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  Part  II.,  p.  480). 
Grove’s  articles  are  ably  disputed  by  Dr.  Samuel  Wolcott  in  Haskett  and 
Abbot’s  edition  of  Smith’s  Bible  Diet. 


Bible  Lauds. 


290 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


which  agrees  substantially  with  the  Biblical  narrative, 
likewise  locates  Usdum  (Sodom)  and  the  pillar  of  salt  at 
the  southern  extremity.  The  Arabs  call  this  pillar  “  Bint 
Sheikh  Lot,”  i.  e.,  “  Lot’s  Wife.”  “  Bint,”  says  Palmer, 
properly  means  “  daughter,”  but  in  Moab  it  is  used  for 
“  wife,”  perhaps  in  lingering  reminiscence  of  the  crime 
of  Lot’s  daughters  (Gen.  19  :  30-38).  Josephus  professes 
to  have  seen  such  a  pillar  in  his  day.  Lieut.  Lynch 
claims  to  have  discovered  it  in  1848  at  Usdum,  on  the 
southern  shore,  and  thus  describes  it  ;*  “  Soon  after,  to 
our  astonishment,  we  saw  on  the  eastern  side  of  Usdum, 
one-third  the  distance  from  its  northern  extreme,  a  lofty 
round  pillar,  standing  apparently  detached  from  the  gen¬ 
eral  mass,  at  the  head  of  a  deep,  narrow,  and  abrupt 
chasm.  We  immediately  pulled  in  for  the  shore,  and  Dr. 
Anderson  and  I  went  up  and  examined  it.  The  beach 
was  a  soft,  slimy  mud  encrusted  with  salt,  and  a  short 
distance  from  the  water,  covered  with  saline  fragments 
and  flakes  of  bitumen.  We  found  the  pillar  to  be  of  solid 
salt,  capped  with  carbonate  of  lime,  cylindrical  in  front 
and  pyramidical  behind.  The  upper  or  rounded  part  is 
about  forty  feet  high,  resting  on  a  kind  of  oval  pedestal, 
from  forty  to  sixty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  It 
slightly  decreases  in  size  upward,  crumbles  at  the  top, 
and  is  one  entire  mass  of  crystallization.  A  prop  or 
buttress  connects  it  with  the  mountain  behind,  and  the 
whole  is  covered  with  debris  of  a  light  stone  color.  Its 
peculiar  shape  is  doubtless  attributable  to  the  action  of 

*  Narrative  of  the  United  States  Expedition,  p.  307.  See  the  picture 
of  the  Pillar  of  Salt,  p.  308. 


THE  DEAD  SEA. 


291 


the  winter  rains.  The  Arabs  had  told  us  in  vague  terms 
that  there  was  to  be  found  a  pillar  somewhere  upon  the 
shores  of  the  sea.”  F.  de  Saulcy  saw  in  the  same  local¬ 
ity  several  vast,  disconnected,  pyramidical  columns  of 
salt,  and  supposes  that  Lot’s  wife  was  crushed  and  cov¬ 
ered  by  one  of  them.*  But  this  is  hardly  consistent  with 
the  plain  meaning  of  the  narrative.  Canon  Tristram,  on 
his  second  visit,  found  a  considerable  change  which  the 
short  period  of  eight  years  had  made ;  several  isolated 
fragments  of  salt,  or  “  Lot’s  wives,”  had  been  washed 
away,  and  other  pinnacles  had  been  detached  by  the 
rains  to  take  their  places.  He  describes  that  region  as 
“  the  most  desolate  and  dreary  corner  of  that  desolate 
shore,  without  one  trace  of  vegetable  life,  noCeven  a  stray 
salsola  or  salicornia  to  relieve  the  flat  sand-beds. ’’f  Pal¬ 
mer  locates  the  Bint  Sheikh  Lot  farther  north  on  the 
eastern  shore,  above  the  projecting  promontory  El  Lisan 
(The  Tongue),  and  describes  it  as  “a  tall  isolated  needle 
of  rock,  which  does  really  bear  a  curious  resemblance  to 
an  Arab  woman  with  a  child  upon  her  shoulders,”  and 
made  him  almost  believe  that  he  had  seen  the  prophet’s 
wife  peering  sadly  after  her  perished  home  in  the  un¬ 
known  depths  of  that  accursed  sea.| 

These  curious  salt  pillars  served  to  keep  alive  for  so 
many  ages  the  local  tradition  of  the  disastrous  event. 

The  Dead  Sea  is  not  the  only  inland  sheet  of  salt 
water.  In  Utah  Territory  which  I  recently  visited  (June, 

*  Narrative  of  a  Jonrney  round  the  Dead  Sea  in  1850  and  1851.  Lon¬ 
don,  1853.  Vol.  II.,  p.  269. 

t  The  Land  of  Moab.  New  York,  1873.  Pp.  52-54. 
t  The  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  Part  II.,  pp.  478-480. 


292 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


1878),  there  is  likewise  a  “  Salt  Lake,”  without  an  outlet, 
and  connected  with  a  sweet  water  lake,  “Lake  Utah,” 
by  a  turbid  and  rapid  stream  which  the  Mormons  bap¬ 
tized  “Jordan.”  An  analysis  of  the  waters  of  both  gives 
the  same  results.  A  bath  in  the  Salt  Lake  has  the  same 
effect,  but  is  facilitated  by  an  hotel  and  a  bath-house  on 
“  Lake  Point while  on  the  Dead  Sea  there  is  no  conve¬ 
nience  of  any  kind.  The  contrasts  are  remarkable.  The 
Salt  Lake  is  much  larger,  has  several  mountainous  islands, 
and  lies  4,200  feet  above  the  sea  level,  while  the  Dead  Sea 
lies  1,300  feet  bcneatJi  the  Mediterranean.  The  elevation 
of  Lake  Utah  is  4,482  feet,  the  depression  of  the  surface 
of  the  Lake  of  Galilee  653  feet.  The  Jordan  of  Pales¬ 
tine  flows  southward,  the  Jordan  of  Utah  Territory  flows 
northward,  and  supplies  water  for  irrigating  the  numer¬ 
ous  farms  in  its  valley. 

The  greatest  difference  is  the  change  produced  by  the 
industry  of  men.  The  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea  and  the 
Jordan  are  a  dreary  desert,  and  the  roaming  Bedawin, 
like  the  wild  Indians  of  America,  disdain  agricultural 
labor,  preferring  to  live  like  animals.  When  the  Mor¬ 
mons,  fleeing  from  the  persecution  of  their  fellow-Amer- 
icans  over  the  unbroken  prairies  of  the  West,  settled  in 
Utah  Territory,  as  their  land  of  promise,  thirty-one  years 
ago  (July,  1847),  before  its  annexation  to  the  United 
States,  they  found  it  a  desert  as  wild  as  Judaea,  inhabited 
by  bears  and  savage  men  ;  but  in  a  few  years  they  trans¬ 
formed  it,  by  irrigation  and  cultivation,  into  a  fruitful 
garden.  A  few  miles  from  Salt  Lake  they  built  Salt 
Lake  City,  laid  out  in  wide  regular  streets,  ornamented 


THE  DEAD  SEA. 


293 


by  shade-trees,  and  refreshed  by  running  streams  of  clear 
water  from  the  mountain.  They  erected  in  the  midst  of 
it  a  tabernacle  of  worship  which  can  accommodate  ten 
thousand  persons,  and  they  are  now  erecting  another 
tabernacle  for  winter  use,  and  a  magnificent  temple  for 
the  performance  of  baptisms,  ordinations,  and  other  ordi¬ 
nances.  They  made  the  surrounding  country,  after  wash¬ 
ing  the  alkali  out  of  the  soil  by  irrigation,  yield  excellent 
wheat,  oats,  pasture,  apricots,  apples,  pears,  plums,  and 
vegetables  in  abundance.  They  sent  out  apostles  and 
evangelists  to  foreign  countries,  and  are  still  attracting 
large  numbers  of  poor  and  hard-working  emigrants  from 
England,  Wales,  Scandinavia,  Germany,  and  Switzerland, 
who  desire  to  improve  their  temporal  condition  and  to 
become  independent  producers.  Salt  Lake  City  numbers 
already  about  25,000  inhabitants  (including  about  2,000 
“  Gentiles,”  so  called  as  distinct  from  the  Mormon 
“  Saints”),  and  the  whole  territory  of  Utah  perhaps  over 
125,000,  far  more  than  sufficient  to  make  it  a  sovereign 
State  in  the  Union,  if  it  were  not  for  the  peculiar  institu¬ 
tion  of  polygamy,  which  is  utterly  incompatible  with  our 
Western  civilization  and  the  dignity  and  happiness  of 
our  home-life. 

The  short  history  of  this  Mormon  settlement  proves 
what  religious  fanaticism,  combined  with  industry,  per¬ 
severance,  and  artisan  skill,  can  accomplish  in  spite  of 
all  difficulties.  Mormonism  is  a  modern  American  edi¬ 
tion  of  Mohammedanism  ;  but  Mohammedan  fanaticism 
works  only  destruction,  and  the  Turkish  government 
ruins  the  countries  over  which  it  rules.  The  Mormons 


294 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


would  do  a  good  service  both  to  America  and  to  Turkey 
if  they  were  to  emigrate  to  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula  and 
the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  teach  their  Ishmaelite 
cousins  a  lesson  of  American  industry  and  thrift. 

But  Mormonism  deserves  no  more  credit  than  Amer¬ 
ican  energy  and  enterprise  in  the  great  new  West  be¬ 
tween  the  banks  of  the  Missouri  and  the  Sierra  Nevada. 
Denver  in  Colorado  is  younger  and  more  flourishing  than 
Salt  Lake  City.  The  whole  “  American  Desert,”  which 
stretches  north  and  south  of  the  Union  and  Central  Pa¬ 
cific  railroads  over  the  Rocky  Mountains  through  hun¬ 
dreds  of  miles  from  Nebraska  to  the  boundaries  of  Cali¬ 
fornia,  is  diminishing  every  year,  and  wherever  water  can 
be  had  from  the  mountain  or  the  river,  the  sage-brush  and 
buffalo-grass  are  giving  way  to  villages,  cultivated  farms, 
and  gardens. 

The  Dead  Sea  has  for  the  first  time  been  partially  explored  by 
Seetzen  in  1807 ;  then  by  Costigan,  July,  1835  i  G.  H.  Moore 
and  W.  G.  Beke,  March,  1837;  by  Lieut.  Molyneux,  Sept.,  1847, 
but  with  very  little  result. 

The  first  thorough  navigation  and  exploration  was  made  in  1848 
by  \V.  F.  Lynch,  of  the  United  States  Navy.  His  Narrative*  is, 
next  to  the  Biblical  Researches  of  Dr.  Robinson,  and  The  Land 
and  the  Book  of  Dr.  Thomson,  the  most  important  American  con¬ 
tribution  to  the  Palestine  literature.  Lieutenant  Lynch,  in  com¬ 
mand  of  an  expedition  fitted  out  at  the  expense  of  the  United 
States  government,  sailed  with  two  metallic  boats  of  great  strength 
and  buoyancy,  one  of  copper  and  one  of  galvanized  iron,  which  had 
to  be  transported  with  great  labor  from  the  shore  of  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  to  the  Lake  of  Tiberias,  down  the  innumerable  windings 
and  dangerous  rapids  of  the  Jordan  to  the  Dead  Sea,  and  spent 

*  Narrative  of  the  U/iited  States  Expedition  to  the  River  Jordan  and  the 
Dead  Sea,  Philadelphia,  1849,  ninth  ed.,  1S53.  See  also  his  Official  Joicrnal  of 
the  U.  S.  Expedition  to  Explore  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  River  Jordan,  1852. 


THE  DEAD  SEA. 


295 


there  full  three  weeks  (from  April  18  to  May  10,  1848),  exploring 
its  length,  breadth,  and  depth,  at  the  risk  of  health.  One  of  his 
companions.  Lieutenant  Dale,  lost  his  life.  Science,  as  well  as  re¬ 
ligion,  has  it  heroes  and  martyrs. 

In  1850  and  1851  F.  de  Saulcy,  a  member  of  the  French  In¬ 
stitute,  visited  the  region  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  published  a  narra¬ 
tive  which  appeared  in  an  English  translation  at  London,  1853,  in 
two  vols. 

Lieut.  Van  de  Velde  of  Holland  followed  in  1852,  and  pro¬ 
duced  one  of  the  best  maps  of  the  Holy  Land. 

In  1864  the  French  duke  De  Luynes,  and  in  1865  the  Wiir- 
temberg  geologist.  Dr.  Oskar  Fraas,  explored  the  Dead  Sea. 
Fraas  disputes  the  theory  of  the  formation  of  the  lake  by  volcanic 
convulsions,  and  traces  it  to  the  power  of  the  mountain  torrents, 
but  he  admits  the  possibility  of  the  Biblical  account  of  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  populous  cities  in  the  plain. 

.  Professor  E.  H.  Palmer  and  Tyrwhitt  Drake  completed 
their  desert  journey,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Palestine  Explora¬ 
tion  Fund,  in  1870,  by  passing  through  the  land  of  Moab  to  the 
northeast  end  of  the  Dead  Sea,  where  they  crossed  the  Jordan. 

In  1872  Canon  Tristram  explored  the  comparatively  unknown 
land  of  Moab,  and  claims,  among  the  results  of  his  journey,  the  re¬ 
covery  of  several  ancient  sites.  He  says:  “The  careful  verifica¬ 
tion  of  Machaerus,  the  scene  of  John  the  Baptist’s  imprisonment 
and  martyrdom ;  the  very  interesting  discovery  of  Zoar(?),  with  the 
valuable  illustration  it  affords  of  the  careful  accuracy  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tural  narrative  in  the  minutest  details  ;  the  finding  of  a  palace  of 
Chosroes,  with  its  sumptuous  architecture,  and  the  ray  of  light  it 
casts  upon  one  of  the  most  obscure  periods  of  later  Roman  his¬ 
tory — these  certainly  were  enough  to  reward  the  most  sanguine  ex¬ 
plorer.  Even  apart  from  these  principal  discoveries,  there  is 
scarcely  a  passage  in  Holy  Writ,  in  which  Moab  is  mentioned, 
which  was  not  in  some  degree  illustrated  during  the  journey;  and 
the  glow'ing  prophecies  of  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  the  allusions  of 
Amos  and  Zephaniah,  the  story  of  the  wars  of  Sihon,  of  Jephthah, 
and  of  Joab,  must  ever  be  read  with  deepened  interest  by  those 
who  have  noted  their  marvellous  coincidences  with  the  state  of  the 
country  as  we  now  see  it.”* 

*  The  Land  of  Moab,  New  York  (Harper’s),  1873,  Preface. 


296 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE  JORDAN. 

From  the  Dead  Sea  to  the  Pilgrim’s  Bathing- Place 
— A  Bath  in  the  Jordan — Character  of  the  Jordan 
— Its  Navigation — Rob  Roy— The  Historic  Associ¬ 
ations — The  Bathing  of  the  Pilgrims — The  Moun¬ 
tains  of  Moab — The  Death  of  Moses — Jericho — 
The  Fountain  of  Elisha — Quarantania,  the  Mount 
of  Temptation — Arrival  at  Bethel — Three  Com¬ 
panies  of  Tourists. 

A  FATIGUING  ride  of  an  hour  and  a  half  in  the  trop¬ 
ical  sun  over  a  barren  plain  brings  us  from  the  Dead  Sea 
to  the  river  Jordan  at  the  bathing-place  of  the  pilgrims, 
the  traditional  site  of  Christ’s  baptism.  The  river  is 
here  80  feet  broad  and  9  feet  deep.  The  banks  are  cov¬ 
ered  with  oleanders,  tamarisks,  willows,  and  balsam-wood. 
The  water  is  muddy,  the  current  very  swift.  There  are 
no  conveniences  for  bathing  except  a  strong  rope  tied  to 
the  trees.  Holding  on  to  this  rope,  I  took  a  most  re¬ 
freshing  bath  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  trees.  After 
the  salt  bath  in  the  lake  of  death  it  was  like  a  bath  of 
regeneration.  I  immersed  myself  ten  times,  and  felt  so 
comfortable  that  I  almost  imagined  I  was  miraculously 
delivered  from  rheumatism.  I  have  plunged  into  many 
a  river  and  many  a  lake,  and  into  the  waves  of  the  ocean, 
but  of  all  the  baths  that  in  the  Jordan  will  linger  longest 
in  my  memory. 

After  a  light  lunch  I  rested  a  couple  of  hours  on  the 
western  bank,  while  my  companions  crossed  over  to  the 


THE  JORDAN.  297 

soil  of  Moab.  My  thoughts  were  lost  in  the  historic 
associations  of  the  sacred  stream. 

The  Jordan  is  the  chief  and  the  only  important  river 
of  Palestine,  as  the  Nile  is  the  one  river  of  Egypt.  It 
traverses  the  whole  length  of  the  country  from  north 
to  south,  as  the  Nile  traverses  Egypt  in  the  opposite 
direction  ;  but  with  the  exception  of  the  luxuriant  jun¬ 
gle  of  shrub  and  wood  on  the  narrow  banks,  where 
lions  and  other  wild  beasts  from  the  desert  formerly 
sought  shelter,  it  has  no  effect  upon  the  surrounding 
desolate  country,  while  the  Nile  spreads  life  and  fer¬ 
tility  for  miles  to  the  right  and  the  left.  It  receives 
no  tributaries  of  any  importance  except  the  Yarmuk 
(Hieromax)  and  the  Jabbok  from  the  east.  The  for¬ 
mer  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Bible ;  the  latter  is  con¬ 
nected  with  Jacob’s  mysterious  conflict  of  prayer  on  his 
return  to  Canaan.*  Taking  its  rise  in  three  or  more  pe¬ 
rennial  fountains  at  the  base  of  Mount  Hermon,  the  Jor¬ 
dan  passes  through  the  rich  plain  of  Huleh  into  the 
waters  of  Merom,  and  flows  twelve  miles  farther  on  into 
the  Lake  of  Tiberias  ;  emerging  from  this,  it  plunges  in 
twenty-seven  rapids  down  a  fall  of  1,000  feet,  afid  at  last 
empties  its  turbid  yellow  waters,  which  resemble  those 
of  the  Tiber,  into  the  Dead  Sea,  where  it  finds  its  grave. 
For  the  old  idea  that  it  flows  into  the  Red  Sea  is  a 
physical  impossibility,  and  has  long  since  been  aban¬ 
doned.  It  traverses  at  least  200  miles  from  the  Hasbei- 
yah  source  to  the  Dead  Sea,  while  the  direct  distance  is 
only  1 15  or  120  miles.  It  is  the  most  tortuous  and  also 

*  Gen.  33  :  22-32. 


2g8 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


the  most  rapid  river  in  the  world.  Its  rapidity  gives 
force  to  its  name,  “  the  Flowing,”  or  “  the  Descender.”* 
Its  total  fall  is  3,000  feet,  or  15  feet  per  mile  of  its  chan¬ 
nel,  25  feet  per  mile  of  its  direct  distance.  The  Rhine 
in  its  most  rapid  course  has  but  one  half  of  the  average 
descent  of  the  Jordan.  The  width  of  the  river  varies 
from  60  to  160  feet,  its  depth  from  5  to  12  feet.  It  is 
never  navigated  for  traffic,  nor  resorted  to  for  fishing. 
There  are  no  bridges  or  boats  mentioned  in  the  Bible. 
The  river  was  crossed  at  fords.f  It  seems  at  present  to 
be  of  no  use  at  all  except  as  a  watering-place  for  the 
Bedawin,  and  as  a  bathing-place  for  Christian  travellers 
and  pilgrims.  The  valley  of  the  lower  Jordan,  called  by 
the  Arabs  El-Ghor,  z,  e.,  the  Hollow,  is  a  broad  depressed 
plain  shut  in  between  two  ranges  of  mountains.  Geolo¬ 
gists  suppose  that  the  Ghor  was  the  basin  of  a  vast  in¬ 
land  lake. 

The  middle  and  lower  Jordan,  from  the  Lake  of  Gal¬ 
ilee  to  the  Salt  Lake,  has  been  three  times  navigated  in 
a  boat,  first  by  an  Irishman,  Costigan,  in  1835,  who  caught 
a  fever  and  died  in  the  Latin  convent  at  Jerusalem,  with¬ 
out  leavhig  any  notes ;  then  by  an  English  lieutenant, 
Molyneux,  in  1847;  l^st,  with  richer  scientific  re¬ 
sults,  by  Lieutenant  Lynch,  of  the  United  States  Navy, 

*  ’^opduvri^,  from  to  go  down,  to  flow.  In  the  original  it  is 
always  used  with  the  article,  except  in  two  passages,  while  King  James’ 
Version,  contrary  to  English  usage,  strangely  omits  it.  The  Arabs  call 
the  river  el-Urdun,  but  more  frequently  esh-Sheriah,  “the  Watering- 
Place.”  In  like  manner  the  German  Rhme  comes  from  rin7ien,  to  flow. 

t  I  Sam.  13:7;  2  Sam.  10:17.  The  “ferry-boat”  of  the  English 
Version,  2  Sam.  19  :  i8,  was  only  a  raft  to  carry  over  David’s  household. 


JERICHO  AND  THE  DEAD  SEA. 


THE  JORDAN. 


299 


in  1848.  The  upper  Jordan  has  been  navigated  by  Mr. 
J.  Macgregor,  of  London,  in  his  famous  canoe  Rob  Roy, 
in  1869. 

The  sight  of  the  Jordan  is  rather  disappointing.  It 
bears  no  comparison  in  majesty  and  beauty  to  the  great 
rivers  of  Europe  and  America.  Naaman  thought  the 
clear  rivers  of  his  native  Damascus  far  superior ;  yet  the 
Abana  and  Pharpar  could  not  wash  away  his  leprosy.  Its 
chief  importance  is  historic.  In  this  respect  the  Jordan 
surpasses  the  Hudson  and  Mississippi,  the  Rhine  and  the 
Danube,  and  even  the  Nile.  It  marks  the  termination  of 
the  wanderings  of  the  children  of  Israel  from  the  banks 
of  the  Nile,  and  the  beginning  of  their  history  as  an  in¬ 
dependent  nation  in  their  own  home.  It  blends  the  mem¬ 
ories  of  the  Old  and  New  Covenants,  as  the  culmination 
of  John’s  testimony  and  the  inauguration  of  Christ’s  king¬ 
dom.  “  Surely,”  says  Macgregor  in  the  charming  ac¬ 
count  of  his  unique  cruise,  “  the  Jordan  is  by  far  the  most 
wonderful  stream  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  the  mem¬ 
ories  of  its  history  will  not  be  forgotten  in  heaven.”* 

Here  the  people  of  Israel,  after  their  weary  pilgrim¬ 
age,  crossed  into  the  land  of  promise  on  dry  ground  by 
a  miracle  as  great  as  that  of  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea.f 
Here  Elijah  and  Elisha,  coming  from  Jericho,  crossed  by 
another  miracle,  the  former  to  ascend  on  a  “chariot  of 
fire  and  horses  of  fire  by  a  whirlwind  into  heaven,”  the 
other  to  receive  the  mantle  of  the  greatest  prophet  in 
Israel. J  Here  Naaman  of  Syria,  “dipping  himself  seven 

*  Rob  Roy  on  the  Jordan  (London  and  New  York),  p.  406. 

t  Josh.  3  :  1-17.  t  -  Kings  2:8-14. 


300 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


times,”  recovered  from  his  leprosy,  and  “  his  flesh  came 
again,  like  unto  the  flesh  of  a  little  child.”*  Here  John 
the  Baptist,  the  new  Elijah,  clothed  in  raiment  of  camels’ 
hair,  with  a  leathern  girdle  round  his  loins,  baptized  the 
people  with  the  water-baptism  of  repentance,  and  pointed 
to  that  higher  One  who  was  to  baptize  them  “with  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire.”t  Here  Jesus  himself  was 
baptized  by  his  forerunner  and  inaugurated  into  his  pub¬ 
lic  ministry.  Here  the  heavens  were  opened,  and  the 
Spirit  of  God  descended  upon  him  like  a  dove,  and  the 
voice  of  the  Father  proclaimed  him  the  beloved  Son 
with  whom  he  was  well  pleased.  J 

Since  that  time,  bathing  in  the  waters  of  the  Jordan 
has  been  esteemed  a  special  privilege.  The  emperor 
Constantine  desired  it,  but  died  before  he  could  enjoy  it. 
Thousands  of  pilgrims,  especially  of  the  Greek  Church,  at 
the  Easter  season  hope  to  find  in  the  Jordan  ablution  of 
their  sins,  relying  more  on  the  magic  virtue  of  the  water 
than  the  cleansing  power  of  the  blood  of  atonement 
through  a  living  faith ;  while  many  others  fill  their  bot¬ 
tles  with  the  sacred  water  to  use  it  for  baptism,  innocent¬ 
ly  or  superstitiously,  in  their  distant  homes.  No  scene 
reminds  us  so  forcibly  of  the  multitudinous  baptisms  of 
John,  when  “from  Jerusalem  and  all  Judaea  and  all  the 
region  round  about  the  Jordan”  the  people  “came  to 
him  confessing  their  sins,”  as  the  bathing  of  the  pil- 
o-rims.  I  did  not  witness  it,  as  Easter  Monday  had 

o 

passed,  but  I  will  copy  the  description  of  Lieutenant 
Lynch,  who  was  there  in  April,  1848  : 

*2  Kings  5:14.  t  Matt.  3:11.  t  Matt.  3 : 13-17  ;  John  i :  32,  33. 


THE  JORDAN. 


301 


“  In  all  the  wild  haste  of  a  disorderly  rout,  Copts  and 
Russians,  Poles,  Armenians,  Greeks,  and  Syrians,  from 
all  parts  of  Asia,  from  Europe,  from  Africa,  and  from 
far-distant  America,  on  they  came,  men,  women,  and 
children,  of  every  age  and  hue,  and  in  every  variety  of 
costume;  talking,  screaming,  shouting,  in  almost  every 
known  language  under  the  sun.  Mounted  as  variously 
as  those  who  had  preceded  them,  many  of  the  women 
and  children  were  suspended  in  baskets  or  confined  in 
cages  ;  and  with  their  eyes  strained  towards  the  river, 
heedless  of  all  intervening  obstacles,  they  hurried  eager¬ 
ly  forward,  and,  dismounting  in  haste  and  disrobing  with 
precipitation,  rushed  down  the  bank  and  threw  them¬ 
selves  into  the  stream.  They  seemed  to  be  absorbed  by 
one  impulsive  feeling,  and  perfectly  regardless  of  the 
observation  of  others.  Each  one  plunged  himself,  or 
was  dipped  by  another,  three  times  below  the  surface,  in 
honor  of  the  Trinity,  and  then  filled  a  bottle,  or  some 
other  utensil,  from  the  river.  The  bathing-dress  of 
many  of  the  pilgrims  was  a  white  gown  with  a  black 
cross  upon  it.  Most  of  them,  as  soon  as  they  dressed, 
cut  branches  either  of  the  agnus  castus,  or  willow,  and 
dipping  them  in  the  consecrated  stream,  bore  them  away 
as  memorials  of  their  visit .  The  pageant  disap¬ 

peared  as  rapidly  as  it  had  approached,  and  left  to  us 
once  more  the  silence  and  the  solitude  of  the  wilderness. 
It  was  like  a  dream.  An  immense  crowd  of  human  be¬ 
ings,  said  to  be  8,000,  but  I  thought  not  so  many,  had 
passed  and  repassed  before  our  tents  and  left  not  a  ves¬ 
tige  behind  them.  Every  one  bathed,  a  few  Franks  ex- 

Bible  Lands.  2G 


302 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


cepted  ;  the  greater  number  in  a  quiet  and  reverential 
manner,  but  some,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  displayed  an  ill- 
timed  levity.”* 

Dean  Stanley  likewise  gives  a  graphic  account  from 
his  recollections,  and  was  struck  with  the  apparent  ab¬ 
sence  of  emotion  and  enthusiasm,  with  the  decorum,  grav¬ 
ity,  and  deliberate  business  aspect  of  the  transaction. 

Beyond  the  southeastern  banks  of  the  Jordan  arise 
the  blue  hills  of  Moab,  which  I  first  saw  from  the  top  of 
Mount  Olivet.  They  are  intimately  connected  with  the 
history  of  Israel  and  the  last  days  of  that  wonderful  man 
of  God  who  had  brought  his  people  through  the  wilder¬ 
ness  to  the  borders  of  the  promised  land,  but  was  not 
permitted  to  enter  it.  The  meanest  of  the  Israelites 
could  cross  the  Jordan,  but  the  great  leader  and  law¬ 
giver  was  excluded  for  a  single  offence — the  want  of 
faith  on  one  trying  occasion.!  He  was  shown  from 
Mount  Nebo  “all  the  land  of  Gilead,  unto  Dan,  and  all 
Naphtali,  and  the  land  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  and 
all  the  land  of  Judah,  unto  the  hinder  sea,  and  the  south, 
and  the  Plain  of  the  valley  of  Jericho,  the  city  of  palm- 
trees,  unto  Zoar.”!  But  as  the  earthly  Canaan  faded 
from  his  view,  the  heavenly  Canaan,  with  brighter  skies 
and  better  soil  and  nobler  rivers  and  loftier  mountains, 
greeted  him  from  afar.  Jehovah  laid  him  gently  down 
in  the  sleep  of  death,  and  buried  him  out  of  sight  and 

*  Narrative  of  the  Utiited  States  Expeditioti,  etc.,  pp.  261,  262. 
t  Numb.  20: 12  ;  27:14;  Deut.  1:37;  3:26,  27. 
i  Deut.  34;  1-6. 


THE  JORDAN. 


303 


out  of  the  reach  of  idolatry,  near  the  land  of  promise,  on 
the  border  of  the  wilderness  which  is  his  battlefield  and 
his  monument.  There,  “  in  a  valley  of  the  land  of  Moab, 
over  against  Beth-Peor,”  his  mortal  remains  repose,  “but 
no  man  knoweth  of  his  sepulchre  unto  this  day.”*  His 
death  on  earth  was  the  beginning  of  his  life  in  heaven. 
We  must  all  pass  the  river  of  death,  but  if  we  die  in  faith, 
we  shall  enter  into  the  rest  which  is  reserved  for  the  peo¬ 
ple  of  God, 


“By  Nebo’s  lonely  mountain, 

East  of  the  Jordan’s  wave, 

In  a  vale  in  the  land  of  Moab, 

There  lies  a  lonely  grave. 

And  no  man  knows  that  sepulchre, 

And  no  man  saw  it  e’er. 

For  the  angels  of  God  upturned  the  sod. 
And  laid  the  dead  man  there. 


“  That  was  the  grandest  funeral 
That  ever  passed  on  earth  ; 

But  no  man  heard  the  trampling. 

Or  saw  the  train  go  forth  : 

Noiselessly  as  the  daylight 

Comes  back  when  night  is  done. 

And  the  crimson  streak  on  ocean’s  cheek 
Grows  into  the  great  sun. 
***** 

• 

*  The  Mohammedan  tradition,  which  locates  the  grave  of  Moses 
between  the  Dead  Sea  and  Mar  Saba,  is  in  plain  contradiction  to  the 
Scripture  account  of  this  providential  concealment  of  his  tomb.  It  is 
marked  by  the  Mosque  of  Neby  Musa,  and  is  a  great  resort  of  Moslem 
pilgrinls  at  the  Easter  season.  I  saw  a  vast  picturesque  procession 
passing  through  St.  Stephen’s  gate  in  Jerusalem  to  the  valley  of  the  Ke- 
dron  and  the  tomb  of  the  prophet  Musa. 


304 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


“  This  was  the  truest  warrior 
That  ever  buckled  sword, 

This  the  most  gifted  poet 
That  ever  breathed  a  word. 

And  never  earth’s  philosopher 
Traced  with  his  golden  pen, 

On  the  deathless  page,  truths  half  so  sage 
As  he  wrote  down  for  men. 

“And  had  he  not  high  honor.? 

The  hillside  for  a  pall. 

To  lie  in  state  while  angels  wait, 

With  stars  for  tapers  tall, 

And  the  dark  rock-pines,  like  tossing  plumes. 
Over  his  bier  to  wave, 

And  God’s  own  hand,  in  that  lonely  land. 

To  lay  him  in  the  grave  ? 

“  In  that  strange  grave  without  a  name. 

Whence  his  uncoffined  clay 
Shall  break  again — O  wondrous  thought ! — 
Before  the  judgment-day, 

And  stand  with  glory  wrapt  around 
On  the  hills  he  never  trod, 

And  speak  of  the  strife  that  won  our  life 
With  the  incarnate  Son  of  God. 

“  O  lonely  grave  in  Moab’s  land  ! 

O  dark  Beth-Peor’s  hill ! 

Speak  to  these  curious  hearts  of  ours, 

And  teach  them  to  be  still. 

God  has  his  mysteries  of  grace, 

Ways  that  we  cannot  tell ; 

He  hides  them  deep,  like  the  hidden  sleep. 

Of  him  He  loved  so  well.” 

MRS.  C.  F.  ALEXANDER. 


In  riding  from  the  Jordan  over  the  once  rich  and 
most  fertile  plain  of  Jericho  we  nearly  fell  among  rob¬ 
bers,  like  the  man  in  the  parable  of  the  good  Samaritan ; 


RUINED  FOUNTAIN  AT  JERICHO. 


THE  JORDAN. 


305 


there  was  a  fight  going  on  between  the  roaming  Beda- 
win  and  the  peasants,  two  of  whom  were  killed,  but  we 
safely  escaped.  . 

Ancient  Jericho  was  once  “the  city  of  palm-trees,” 
a  stronghold  of  ancient  Canaan,  so  famous  in  the  con¬ 
quest  of  Joshua,  then  again  in  the  history  of  Elijah  and 
Elisha.  It  was  the  winter  residence  of  Herod,  who  died 
there.  In  this  city  Christ  brought  salvation  to  the  house 
of  Zacchaeus  and  restored  sight  to  blind  Bartimaeus.  It 
has  long  since  disappeared,  and  a  few  mounds  of  ruins 
only  mark  its  former  site.  The  beautiful  gardens  of  bal¬ 
sam  which  Antony  gave  to  Cleopatra,  and  which  Herod 
bought,  are  no  more.  One  solitary  relic  of  the  magnifi¬ 
cent  jjalm-forest  was  still  standing  in  1838,  but  down 
on  the  Dead  Sea  petrified  palm-trunks,  preserved  by  the 
salt,  may  be  seen  floating  as  dead  memorials  of  the  past. 

Modern  Jericho  (“  Riha”  or  “  Eriha”),  some  distance 
from  the  ruins  of  the  old  city,  is  a  squalid  Arab  village. 
A  half-ruined  tower,  occupied  by  a  Turkish  garrison,  is 
pointed  out  as  the  house  of  Zacchaeus.  We  teok  supper 
and  lodged  in  the  inn  of  a  Greek  Christian,  who  speaks 
a  little  English  and  keeps  a  fruitful,  irrigated  garden  ;  but 
we  regretted  that  we  had  not  slept  in  the  tent,  where  we 
might  have  been  less  disturbed  by  vermin. 

About  thirty  minutes  from  the  place  is  Elisha’s 
Fountain,  which  the  prophet  healed  with  salt.*  The 
Arabs  call  it  “  Ain-es-Sultan,”  the  Sultan’s  Spring. 

From  there  we  pass  the  next  day  by  the  traditional 
Mount  of  Temptation,  called,  in  commemoration  of  the 

*  2  Kings  2  :  19-22. 

20* 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


306 

Forty  Days’  Fast,  Quarantania  by  the  Crusaders,  “Ka- 
ranteF’  by  the  Arabs.  Some  Abyssinian  hermits  inhabit 
the  caverns  in  the  white  rocks  and  drag  out  a  dull  and 
stupid  existence.  The  Evangelists  give  us  no  clew  to 
the  locality  of  that  mysterious,  threefold  conflict  with 
Satan.  Christ  may,  like  Moses  and  Elijah,  have  gone 
to  the  Sinaitic  wilderness  after  his  baptism  in  the  Jor¬ 
dan.  But  Quarantania  is  sufficiently  dreary,  desolate, 
and  wild  for  the  event.  The  second  Adam  had  to  stand 
a  trial  and  probation  in  the  wilderness  for  the  whole  race, 
as  the  first  Adam  did  in  the  garden  of  innocence,  but 
with  opposite  effect,  coming  out  as  a  conqueror  over  the 
prince  of  darkness,  and  restoring  righteousness  and 
life. 

After  a  rough  ride  of  five  or  six  hours  we  arrive  at 
Bethel  {i.  e.,  House  of  God),  now  called  “  Beitin.”  It  is 
nearly  the  same  distance  north  of  Jerusalem,  by  way  of 
Anathoth  (Jeremiah’s  birthplace),  Geba,  and  Michmash. 
It  consists  of  about  two  dozen  Moslem  hovels,  the  ruins 
of  a  Greek  church,  a  very  large  cistern,  and  wild  rocks. 
But  the  spot  is  hallowed  by  Jacob’s  dream  of  a  ladder 
which  reached  from  earth  to  heaven.  “  How  dreadful  is 
this  place  ;  this  is  none  other  than  the  house  of  God,  and 
this  is  the  gate  of  heaven.”*  What  the  patriarch,  then 
a  homeless  wanderer,  saw  in  a  vision,  is  now  fully  real¬ 
ized  for  every  child  of  God  since  the  incarnation,  which 
established  a  constant  intercourse  between  earth  and 
heaven,  with  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  descend¬ 
ing.!  We  rest  on  a  stony  pillow,  and  sing 

Gen.  28  :  10-17.  t  John  i  :  51. 


THE  JORDAN. 


307 


“Though  like  the  wanderer, 

The  sun  gone  down, 

Darkness  be  over  me, 

My  rest  a  stone, 

Yet  in  my  dreams  I ’d  be 
Nearer,  my  God,  to  thee. 

Nearer  to  thee  !” 

At  Bethel  we  joined  a  larger  company  of  Cook’s 
“personally-conducted”  tourists,  and  travelled  with  them 
for  the  remainder  of  our  tour  through  Palestine,  Syria, 
Constantinople,  and  Athens,  and  parted  with  sincere  re¬ 
gret  at  Venice.  It  was  a  very  genial  and  harmonious 
party,  with  sufficient  variety  of  culture  and  taste  to  make 
it  interesting.  We  had  an  American  Congregational 
and  two  Irish  Presbyterian  clergymen,  a  student  of  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland,  an  English  cavalry  officer,  an 
engineer  from  Brighton,  a  graduate  from  Cambridge,  and 
two  accomplished  ladies  from  the  South  of  England,  who 
could  ride  on  horseback  as  well  as  any  of  the  gentlemen. 
During  the  greater  part  of  the  journey  we  met  also  every 
evening  in  neighboring  tents,  two  independent  parties, 
the  one  consisting  of  an  English  clergyman  with  his  fam¬ 
ily,  the  other  of  a  bishop  of  the  Southern  Methodist 
Church  (the  late  Dr.  E.  M.  Marvin  of  St.  Louis),  and  two 
American  ministers.  Long  shall  I  remember  the  de¬ 
lightful  evenings  we  spent  together  in  the  tents,  com¬ 
paring  notes  on  the  experiences  of  the  day  and  uniting 
in  prayer  and  praise. 


3o8 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

SAMARIA. 

The  District  of  Samaria — Its  Fertility — Its  History — 
The  Samaritans  and  the  Jews — Shiloh — Jacob’s 
Well — Mount  Gerizim  and  the  Paschal  Sacrifice 
—  Nabulus  —  The  Samaritan  Pentateuch  —  The 
Ruins  of  the  City  of  Samaria — The  Church  and 
Tomb  of  John  the  Baptist — Dothan  and  Joseph 
— The  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  Israel’s  Battlefield — 
Ahab  and  Jezebel — Shunem  and  the  Shunamite. 

Samaria,  the  central  district  of  Palestine,  presents, 
with  its  abundance  of  fresh  fountains  and  rills,  green 
pastures  and  grain-fields,  a  favorable  contrast  to  the 
rocky  and  barren  soil  of  Judasa.  It  was  the  portion  of 
the  land  assigned  to  Jacob’s  best  and  most  beloved  son, 
and  his  children  Ephraim  and  Manasseh.  “Joseph  is  a 
fruitful  bough,”  prophesied  the  patriarch  on  his  death¬ 
bed,  “  even  a  fruitful  bough  by  a  well,  whose  branches 
run  over  the  wall.”*  “  Blessed  of  the  Lord,”  said  Moses 
of  Joseph,  “be  his  land,  for  the  precious  things  of  heav¬ 
en,  for  the  dew,  and  for  the  deep  that  coucheth  beneath, 
and  for  the  precious  fruits  brought  forth  by  the  sun.”t 
While  the  strength  of  Judah  is  characterized  by  the  lion 
of  the  desert,  the  strength  of  Ephraim  and  the  sister 
tribe  of  Manasseh  is  typified  by  the  bullock  and  buffaloj 
of  the  pasture  and  forest. 

*  Gen.  49:22-26.  t  Deut.  33:  13-17. 

t  In  the  English  Version  “the  unicorn,”  Deut.  33:  17. 


SxlMARIA. 


309 


Samaria  appears  first  in  the  history  of  the  patriarchs. 
Abraham,  after  leaving  his  home  and  kindred  in  Chal- 
daea  by  divine  command,  and  crossing  the  Jordan,  pitched 
his  tent  and  built  the  first  altar  to  Jehovah  at  Shechem 
before  he  journeyed  southward  to  Bethel  and  Hebron.* 
And  when  Jacob  returned  from  the  east  with  his  two 
bands,  he  bought,  with  prudent  foresight,  from  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Hamor,  Shechem’s  father,  “a  parcel  of  a  field 
where  he  had  spread  his  tent,  for  a  hundred  pieces  of 
money.”!  Here  he  sunk,  according  to  tradition,!  his 
famous  well,  which  Jesus  transformed  into  a  type  of  liv¬ 
ing  water,  and  which  remains  to  this  day.  He  was  nat¬ 
urally  unwilling  to  use  the  neighboring  fountains  still  in 
the  possession  of  the  hostile  and  depraved  Canaanites. 
Here  Joseph  sj^ent  the  days  of  his  youth,  and  here,  in 
the  parcel  of  ground  his  father  had  purchased,  his  em¬ 
balmed  remains,  which  the  children  of  Israel  had  brought 
up  out  of  Egypt  at  his  dying  request,  were  buried. §  A 
white  Mussulman  chapel  near  the  Well  of  Jacob  still 
marks  the  tomb  of  Joseph,  and  has  recently  been  re¬ 
stored  by  Mr.  Rogers,  the  English  consul  at  Damascus, 
in  1868.  Gerizim  is  an  older  sanctuary  than  Jerusalem, 
and  bears  to  it  a  similar  relation  as  Moscow  does  to  St. 
Petersburg.  It  has  been  plausibly  argued  by  some  that 
Mount  Gerizim,  and  not  Mount  Moriah,  is  the  place 
where  Abraham  encountered  Melchizedek,  the  mysteri- 

*  Gen.  12:6,7.  t  Gen.  33:19.  J  John  4: 12. 

§  Josh.  24:32;  compare  Gen.  50 :  25,  26;  Exod.  13:19;  Acts  7  : 16. 
The  Mohammedans  claim  the  body  of  Josephus  in  the  Machpelah  at  He¬ 
bron,  and  say  that  it  was  transported  from  Shechem. 


310 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


ous  priest-king,  and  where  he  was  about  to  offer  the  sac¬ 
rifice  of  Isaac,  the  son  of  promise.  Soon  after  the  con¬ 
quest,  according  to  the  command  of  Moses,  Joshua  built 
an  altar  to  Jehovah  on  Mount  Ebal,  and  read  to  the  peo¬ 
ple  the  blessings  of  the  law  from  Gerizim,  and  the  curses 
from  Ebal.*  The  two  mountains  are  so  close  together 
that  they  form  a  natural  sounding-board,  and  persons 
upon  them  might  easily  be  heard  from  one  to  the  other 
over  the  deep  valley  belovv,  which  is  not  more  than  five 
or  six  hundred  yards  wide.  The  truth  of  the  Scripture 
statement  has  often  been  tested.  Three  of  my  fellow- 
travellers  actually  made  the  experiment,  one  ascending 
Gerizim,  the  other  Ebal,  and  the  third  standing  in  the 
valley  between,  and  audibly  conversed  with  each  other. 
At  Shechem  Joshua  delivered  his  farewell  address  to  the 
assembled  children  of  Israel,  and  asked  them  to  choose 
whom  they  would  serve,  declaring  for  himself,  “  As  for 
me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord.”!  At  Shiloh 
he  set  up  the  tabernacle  and  the  ark,  which  remained 
there  during  the  stormy  period  of  the  Judges  till  the 
death  of  Eli.:|: 

Thus  Gerizim  became  a  second  Sinai,  and  Shiloh  a 
national  sanctuary.  The  Samaritans  in  their  controver¬ 
sies  with  the  Jews  utilized  these  facts  in  support  of  their 
schism,  just  as  the  Mohammedans  claim  the  benefit  of 
the  patriarchal  and  Mosaic  traditions. 

*  Josh.  8  :  30-35  ;  comp.  Deut.  1 1  :  29  ;  27:11-13.  There  is  no  good 
reason  to  assume,  with  Jerome,  that  two  other  mountains  of  that  name 
near  Jericho  were  meant  in  these  passages. 

I  Josh.  24;  I,  15,  25.  t  Josh.  18:  I ;  19:  51,  etc. 


SAMARIA. 


3ir 

But  David  and  Solomon  made  Jerusalem  the  politi¬ 
cal  and  religious  centre  of  the  holy  land.  When  the 
kingdom  was  divided  under  Rehoboam,  Samaria  became 
the  kingdom  of  the  Ten  Tribes.  After  the  Captivity  the 
two  kingdoms  were  united  again  for  a  brief  period  under 
Herod  the  Great. 

In  the  New  Testament  Samaria  is  subordinate  to  Ju¬ 
daea  and  Galilee.  Since  the  exile  a  mixed  race  with  a 
mixed  creed  had  taken  the  place  of  the  Ephraimites ; 
the  descendants  of  Joseph  and  Rachel  who  had  re¬ 
mained  or  who  returned  from  exile,  intermarried  with 
Greek  and  Syrian  colonists.  Henceforward  the  Samar¬ 
itans  were  hated  and  abhorred  as  semi-heathen  here¬ 
tics  and  schismatics  by  the  Jews  of  pure  blood,  and  they 
hated  them  in  turn.  Christ  broke  through  the  national 
prejudice,  held  up  a  despised  Samaritan  as  an  example  of 
true  charity,  revealed  to  a  poor  Samaritan  woman  of  quick 
wit  and  light  heart,  the  nature  of  spiritual  and  universal 
worship  ;  and  in  view  of  the  ripening  grain  around  Jacob’s 
Well  he  predicted  a  large  harvest  of  converts,  which  was 
reaped  by  the  apostles.*  But  it  was  in  Samaria  also  that 
Simon  Magus,  the  patriarch  of  Christian  heretics,  arose 
and  substituted  a  chaos  of  Jewish,  pagan,  and  Christia’n 
notions  and  practices  for  the  pure  gospel  of  Christ. f 

Let  us  now  briefly  sketch  the  places  in  Samaria 
which  we  visited. 

First  we  come  to  the  few  ruins  of  Shiloh  (now  called 

*  Luke  10  :  33 ;  John  4 :  7,  seq.  ;  Acts  8  :  5,  seq. 
t  Acts  8  :  9,  seq. 


312 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


“  Seilun”)  by  turning  a  little  to  the  right  of  the  road  from 
Bethel  to  Shechem.  It  is  often  mentioned  in  the  Old 
Testament,  but  nowhere  in  the  New.  It  lies  on  a  slight 
eminence,  and  seems  to  have  been  selected  for  the  seat 
of  the  national  sanctuary  on  account  of  its  central  situa¬ 
tion  and  seclusion.  The  place  is  not  worth  the  half 
hour’s  detour  except  for  its  former  significance,  which  it 
lost  after  the  capture  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant  by  the 
Philistines  and  the  death  of  Eli  and  his  sons,  when  his 
daughter-in-law  exclaimed,  “  The  glory  is  departed  from 
Israel :  for  the  ark  of  God  is  taken.”* 

Far  more  interesting,  for  its  New  Testament  associa¬ 
tions,  is  the  next  place  of  historic  importance,  Jacob’s 
Well.  Here  our  Saviour  sat  weary  from  travelling, 
hungry  and  thipsty  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 

“  Quaerens  me  sedisii  lasstts, 

Redemisti,  crucem  passus : 

Tantus  labor  non  sit  cassus.” 

Here  he  delivered  that  marvellous  discourse  with  the 
Samaritan  woman,  which  no  thoughtful  traveller  will  omit 
to  read  and  to  ponder  on  the  spot.  The  patriarchal  mem¬ 
ories  are  absorbed  in  the  memories  of  Him  who  is  greater 
than  “our  father  Jacob,”  and  who  is  himself  and  alone 
the  never-failing  fountain  of  life  eternal.  There  is  no 
reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  identity  of  the  well.f  Jews, 

*  I  Sam.  4  :  3-22. 

t  The  objection  repeated  in  Badeker’s  Handbook  (p.  328),  that  a 
tvomau  of  Shechem  (Nabulus),  where  water  is  abundant,  had  no  need  to 
come  so  far  to  draw  water,  is  frivolous,  for  she  may  have  lived  in  the  vi¬ 
cinity ;  and,  if  not,  the  very  fact  of  its  being  Jacob’s  Well  was  sufficient 
for  a  supers'^itious  woman  to  bring  her  twice  the  distance.  “  Of  all  the 


SAMARIA. 


313 


Samaritans,  Mohammedans,  and  Christians  are  here 
agreed.  The  tradition  is  supported  by  the  landscape, 
which  is  a  living  illustration  of  the  narrative  of  John. 
The  well  is  a  natural  resting-place  on  the  highroad  from 
Jerusalem  to  Galilee,  over  which  Christ  travelled,  in  the 
grain-field  which  Jacob  bought,  and  which  was  then,  as 
now,  whitening  to  the  harvest,  near  Joseph’s  tomb  and 
the  town  of  Shechem,  and  in  full  view  of  Mount  Geri- 
zim,  to  which  the  woman  pointed  as  the  true  place  of  wor¬ 
ship,  as  the  Samaritans  of  the  present  day  still  do.  The 
well  is  sunk  in  the  living  rock,  75  feet  deep,  but  covered 
with  rubbish  and  surrounded  by  the  ruins  of  a  Christian 
church,  which  is  mentioned  by  Jerome,  and  was  destroy¬ 
ed  during  the  Crusades.  The  Palestine  Exploration  Fund 
has  recently  been  furnished  with  money  to  restore  the 
Well  and  to  make  it  comfortably  accessible  alike  to  Prot¬ 
estants,  Greeks,  and  Roman  Catholics. 

Jacob’s  Well  is  only  half  an  hour’s  distance  from 
Nabulus,  but  before  we  enter  the  city  we  ascend  with¬ 
out  difficulty  the  top  of  Gerizim,  the  Mount  of  Bless¬ 
ing,  the  Samaritan  rival  of  Mount  Moriah.  It  rises,  like 
its  neighbor  Ebal,  in  steep,  rocky  precipices,  directly  from 
the  narrow  valley,  2,700  feet  above  the  Mediterranean, 
and  about  800  above  Nabulus.  Ebal  is  a  little  higher. 
Both  are  naked  and  sterile,  but  Gerizim  has  a  “small 
ravine  which  is  full  of  fountains,  fruit-trees,  and  ver¬ 
dure.”*  Both  command  a  fine  view  over  the  fertile  and 

special  localities  of  our  Lord’s  life  in  Palestine,’’  says  Stanley,  “  this  is 
almost  the  only  one  absolutely  undisputed.” 

*  Robinson,  Physical  Gcographv  of  the  Holy  Land,  p.  37. 

27 


314 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


well-cultivated  valley  and  plain  below,  the  mountains  of 
Gilead  in  the  east,  Mount  Carmel  in  the  west,  and  the 
snow-capped  Hermon  in  the  north.  The  summit  of  Ge- 
rizim  is  a  large  plateau,  and  is  the  most  sacred  spot  of 
the  Samaritan  sect.  There  the  law  of  Moses  was  pro¬ 
claimed  a  second  time,  and  there  the  Samaritan  temple 
was  built,  about  b.  c.  330,  in  which  an  apostate  Jewish 
priest  was  made  high-priest.*  It  was  destroyed  in  the 
reign  of  Justinian,  about  a.  d.  529,  who  built  there  a  for¬ 
tress  and  a  Christian  church.  The  massive  ruins  still 
remain.  On  that  summit  the  Samaritans  always  put  off 
their  shoes,  towards  it  they  always  turn  their  faces  in 
prayer,  and  to  it  they  come  three  times  a  year  in  solemn 
procession  ta  celebrate  the  great  Jewish  festivals — the 
Passover,  the  Pentecost,  and  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles. 
It  is  the  only  spot  on  earth  where  the  Jewish  paschal 
sacrifice  is  perpetuated  in  the  primitive  fashion  pre¬ 
scribed  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Exodus.  Tents  are 
erected  around  a  circular  pit,  where  the  fire  is  kindled  ; 
five  or  six  lambs  without  blemish  are  killed,  roasted,  and 
eaten  in  haste,  with  the  fingers  ;  the  bones  are  then 
burnt. t 

Nabulus  or  Nablous  (a  corruption  of  Neapolis  or 
Flavia  Neapolis,  so  called  to  commemorate  its  restoration 

*  Josephus,  Antiq.,  XI.  7,  2;  comp.  Nehem.  13:28;  Robinson,  Re¬ 
searches,  III.,  p.  1 17. 

t  For  a  full  description  of  this  unique  festival  from  personal  obser¬ 
vation,  see  Mills’  Nablous  and  the  Modern  Samaritans,  London,  1864.  It 
is  quoted  by  Dr.  Norman  Macleod  in  Eastward,  and  in  Cook’s  Palestine 
and  Syria,  pp.  257-261.  Dean  Stanley  also  witnessed  the  ceremony  on 
his  visit  with  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  points  out  the  striking  resemblance 
to  the  Mosaic  prescription. 


SHECHEM  AND  MT.  GERIZIM:  FROM  THE  NORTHWEST 


MODERN  NAZARETH  :  FROM  THE  EAST. 


•  • 

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■m  •  •<  <  ' :  . igg^  tr^S 

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J  >  r  :^.  ,  . 

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-  ■  ■■-•«■  •■'■  .*  1  .uf^-  -Ji 


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f,ii''  '  .. 

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-  ■'■'  1 

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O  •*  . 

V. 

{  ?  '  • 


SAMARIA. 


5*5 


by  Flavius  Vespasianus)  occupies  the  place  of  ancient 
Shechem,  the  capital  of  Jeroboam.  It  is  the  birthplace 
of  Justin  Martyr,  the  first  Christian  philosopher.  It  lies 
between  the  mountains  of  Gerizim  and  Ebal,  in  a  small 
but  exceedingly  fertile  valley,  enlivened  by  fresh  foun¬ 
tains  and  rills,  carpeted  with  green  verdure,  olive-groves, 
and  gardens,  and  musical  with  birds.  Stanley  calls  it 
“  the  most  beautiful,  perhaps  the  only  very  beautiful,  spot 
in  central  Palestine.”  But  the  inside  of  the  town,  as  usual 
in  the  East,  is  by  no  means  attractive,  though  curious 
and  interesting.  The  chief  building  is  the  great  mosque, 
once  a  church  of  the  Crusaders,  dedicated  to  St.  John. 
The  town  numbers  from  13,000  to  15,000  inhabitants, 
including  about  600  Christians,  mostly  of  the  Greek 
Church,  140  Samaritans,  and  100  Jews,  the  rest  are  Mos¬ 
lems.*  There  is  a  Protestant  Baptist  missionary  in  the 
place,  El  Cary,  a  native  of  Nilbulus,  but  educated  in 
England,  and  a  German  catechist,  Mr.  Falscher,  who 
keeps  an  Arabic  school  in  connection  with  the  Anglican 
bishopric  of  Jerusalem.  The  Samaritans  occupy  a  sep¬ 
arate  quarter  of  the  city,  and  have  a  small,  whitewashed 
synagogue,  to  which  Mr.  Falscher  kindly  conducted  me 
through  a  labyrinth  of  streets.  The  high-priest,  a  very 
handsome  man,  in  the  prime  of  life,  brought  from  behind 
the  veil  and  showed  us  for  baksheesh  the  famous  Samar¬ 
itan  Pentateuch,  the  somewhat  defaced  original  as  well 
as  a  fine  copy.  There  seem  to  be  several  copies  extant. 
Professor  Peterson  procured  one.  The  Codex  is  written 
in  Samaritan  characters  on  rolls  of  parchment,  and  wrap- 

*  These  statistics  were  gathered  on  the  spot,  but  vary  much  in  books. 


3i6 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


ped  in  a  scarf  of  crimson  satin.  Though  not  the  work  of 
a  grandson  of  Aaron,  as  they  claim,  it  is  undoubtedly 
very  old,  and  one  of  the  greatest  bibliographical  curiosi¬ 
ties.  It  has  been  minutely  described  by  travellers  and 
discussed  by  Biblical  scholars,  especially  in  its  relation  to 
the  Hebrew  text.*  The  Pentateuch  is  the  Bible  of  the 
Samaritans,  who  are  monotheists  and  believers  in  the 
future  advent  of  the  Messiah,  but  reject  the  later  books 
of  the  Old  Testament.  They  are  a  remarkable  example 
of  the  amazing  tenacity  of  Eastern  tradition.  They  are 
the  smallest  and  oldest  sect,  consisting  of  about  forty 
families,  and  perpetuating  a  schism  of  more  than  two 
thousand  years.  But,  after  all,  they  illustrate  only  on  a 
small  scale  and  in  a  single  spot,  what  the  Jews  do  in  all 
lands — the  burning  bush  which  is  not  consumed. 

The  ruins  of  Samaria  or  Sebaste  (Sebastiyeh)  are 
two  hours’  ride  (eight  miles)  from  Nabulus.  The  path 
leads  over  the  most  cultivated  valley  in  Palestine.  The 
modern  Moslem  village  Sebastiyeh  is  on  the  slope  of 
a  hill.  The  ancient  city  was  beautifully  located  on  the 
top  of  a  round  hill,  surrounded  by  a  picturesque  amphi¬ 
theatre  of  hills  and  fertile  valleys,  but  it  had  no  sacred' 
traditions  to  rest  on.  The  bad  King  Omri  built  Sama¬ 
ria  for  his  pleasure  as  a  second  capital  of  the  kingdom  of 
the  Ten  Tribes,!  a  sort  of  Versailles  or  Potsdam.  His 
worse  son  Ahab  made  it  the  headquarters  of  idolatry  by 
building  an  altar  for  Baal  (the  chief  deity  of  his  wife  Jez¬ 
ebel,  a  daughter  of  the  king  of  Sidon),  and  “did  more  to 

*  See  a  series  of  articles  on  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch  by  Pick  in  the 
Bibliotheca  Sacra  for  1877  and  1878.  t  i  Kings  16  :  24. 


SAMARIA. 


317 


provoke  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  than  all  the  kings  of 
Israel  that  were  before  him.”*  This  apostasy  called  forth 
the  rebuke  of  the  prophet  Elijah,  and  his  famous  sacrifice 
and  defeat  of  the  four  hundred  and  fifty  priests  of  Baal 
on  Mount  Carmel. f  Hosea  and  Micah  prophesied  that 
“  Samaria  shall  become  desolate  as  a  heap  of  the  field.”  J 
Isaiah  pronounced  “  Woe  to  the  crown  of  pride,  to  the 
drunkards  of  Ephraim,  whose  glorious  beauty  is  a  fading 
flower,  which  are  on  the  head  of  the  fat  valleys  of  them 
that  are  overcome  with  wine.”§  Soon  afterwards  the 
city  was  taken  and  destroyed,  after  a  siege  of  three  years, 
by  the  Assyrians,  b.  c.  722, ||  and  again  by  Hyrcanus. 
But  it  was  rebuilt  under  the  Maccabees.  Herod  the 
Great  fortified  and  beautified  it  under  the  Greek  name 
Sebaste,  in  honor  of  his  master,  the  emperor  Augustus. 
He  built  a  temple  of  Augustus  and  a  magnificent  double 
colonnade  around  the  topmost  terrace  of  the  hill.  About 
a  hundred  decapitated  and  broken  or  half-buried  pillars 
still  remain. 

Philip  the  evangelist  preached  the  gospel  with  great 
success  in  Samaria.^  It  became  afterwards  an  Episcopal 
see,  and  in  the  twelfth  century  the  Crusaders  built  below 
the  hill  a  large  Gothic  church  of  St.  John  the  Baptist, 
who,  according  to  a  tradition  dating  from  the  fourth  cen¬ 
tury,  was  beheaded  and  buried  here.**  It  is  now  a  pic¬ 
turesque  ruin,  and  used  as  a  mosque.  John’s  prison  and 
tomb  are  shown  in  a  crypt  much  older  than  the  church. 

*  I  Kings  16  : 32,  33.  t  I  Kings  l8  ;  20,  seq.  J  Hos.  13:16;  Mic.  l  :  6. 

§  Isa.  28  :  I.  II  2  Kings  18  : 10,  ll.  IT  Acts  8  :  5-8. 

**  Josephus  {Antiquities,  XVIII.  5,  2)  and  Eusebius  locate  the  prison 
and  martvrdom  o£  John  in  the  castle  of  Machaerus,  east  of  the  Dead  Sea. 

27* 


3i8 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


About  twelve  miles  north  of  Samaria,  and  west  of  the 
road  to  Galilee,  is  Dothan,  still  bearing  the  ancient 
name,  on  a  rich  but  uninhabited  pasture-ground,  which 
recalls  the  first  chapter  in  the  romantic  history  of  Jo¬ 
seph,  so  full  of  striking  providential  surprises  and  over¬ 
rulings,  beginning  in  slavery  and  exile,  and  ending  with 
the  rulership  over  Egypt,  as  a  reward  for  unspotted 
purity  of  character  in  the  midst  of  temptation  and  cor¬ 
ruption.*  Joseph  and  Daniel,  two  shining  lights  of  truth 
and  piety  in  heathen  darkness,  who  can  measure  the 
influence  of  th‘eir  example  upon  young  men  ! 

At  Jenin  (the  ancient  Levitical  city  Engannim)f  the 
second  camping  station  on  the  northern  journey  from 
Jerusalem,  we  enter  the  celebrated  plain  of  Esdraelon, 
or  Jezreel,  also  called  the  Plain  of  Megiddo,  the  inherit¬ 
ance  of  Issachar,  whom  Jacob  described  as  “a  strong 
ass,  crouching  down  between  two  burdens.”  It  is  an 
irregular  triangle,  and,  next  to  the  Plain  of  Sharon,  the 
most  fertile  district  of  Palestine,  looking  in  spring  like  a 
green  velvet  carpet,  but  almost  uninhabited,  sadly  neg¬ 
lected,  and  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  the  wild  Bedawin, 
who  from  time  to  time  make  raids,  pitch  their  black 
tents,  kill  the  peasants,  plunder  the  crops,  and  then  ride 
back  with  their  booty  on  camels  and  horses  to  their  lairs 
in  the  Hauran.  They  are  as  bad  as  a  swarm  of  locusts, 
and  the  Turkish  government  is  powerless.  Esdraelon  is 

*  Gen.  37  :  17  :  “And  Joseph  went  after  his  brethren  and  found  them 
in  Dothan.”  Dothan  or  Dothain  means  the  two  wells.  The  prophet 
Elisha  resided  there  for  a  while,  and  was  providentially  delivered  from 
the  hands  of  the  Syrians.  2  Kings  6  : 8-23. 

t  Josh,  rg  :  21  ;  21  :  29. 


SAMARIA. 


319 


the  classic  soil  of  battles,  where  Barak  and  Gideon  tri¬ 
umphed  ;  where  Deborah  sung  her  stirring  war-song 
where  (on  the  neighboring  Mount  Gilboa)  Saul  and  Jon¬ 
athan  fell,  and  called  forth  the  lament  of  David,  as  re¬ 
markable  for  its  sentiments  of  generosity  and  friendship 
as  for  its  poetic  beauty  ;t  where  good  King  Josiah, 
exposing  himself  in  his  chariot,  was  mortally  wounded 
by  the  Egyptian  archers.|  These  reminiscences  fur¬ 
nished  the  author  of  the  Apocalypse  the  mystic  name  for 
the  final  battlefield  “  on  the  great  day  of  God  Almighty.”§ 
In  the  battle  of  Mount  Tabor,  Napoleon  with  3,000 
Frenchmen  gained  a  fruitless  victory  over  30,000  Turks. 

The  miserable  hamlet  Zerin,  on  a  low  spur  which 
projects  westward  from  Gilboa,  about  seven  miles  north 
of  Jenin,  represents  the  ancient  Jezreel,  the  capital  of 
Ahab  and  Jezebel,  and  the  scene  of  a  series  of  bloody 
crimes  and  tragedies,  in  fearful  punishment  of  their  idola¬ 
try  and  wickedness,  rebuked  by  the  stern  prophet  Elijah.H 

At  Shunem  (Sulem),  a  village  surrounded  by  gardens 
with  cactus  hedges  and  by  rich  grain  fields,  about  five 
miles  farther  north,  we  remember  the  story  of  the  Shu- 
namite  and  her  son,  whom  Elisha  raised  from  the  dead.^ 
But  we  look  in  vain  for  the  good  woman  and  the  proph¬ 
et’s  chamber,  and  for  the  fair  Shulamite  of  the  Canti¬ 
cles,  and  ride  on  to  Nain  and  Nazareth. 

*  Judg.  chaps.  4-7.  t  I  Sam.  31  : 2,  seq. ;  2  Sam.  1:17,  seq. 

j:  2  Chron.  35  : 20-25.  See  the  graphic  description  of  these  battles  by 
Stanley  in  Chap.  IX. 

§  “Armageddon,”  the  city  or  mountain  of  Megiddo.  Rev.  16:14-16; 
19  : 19.  II  I  Kings  21  and  22.  T  2  Kings  4  :8-37. 


320 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

NAZARETH. 

Importance  of  Nazareth — The  Education  of  our 
Lord — Approach  to  the  Town — A  Question  of 
Skepticism  and  the  Answer  of  Faith — Ancient 
and  Modern  Nazareth— The  Beautiful  View — 
The  Women  of  Nazareth — The  Virgin’s  Foun¬ 
tain — The  Population — The  Traditional  Sights — 
A  Female  Orphanage — Mathilda  Dickson — The 
Protestant  Mission  Church — Rev.  Messrs.  Zeller 
and  Bellamy  and  Mr.  Huber — A  Christian  Hos¬ 
pital — Dr.  Vartan. 

April  15. 

Here  we  are  in  this  retired  mountain  village  where 
the  Saviour  of  mankind  spent  the  greater  part  of  his 
life  on  earth  !  In  Bethlehem  we  feel  the  joy  of  his  birth, 
in  Jerusalem  the  awe  and  anguish  of  his  crucifixion,  but 
also  the  glory  of  his  resurrection  ;  in  Nazareth  we  look 
at  the  humble  abode  of  his  youth  and  early  manhood. 
Talent  and  character  are  matured  in  quiet  seclusion  for 
the  great  battle  of  public  life. 

Nazareth  is  not  even  named  in  the  Old  Testament, 
except  by  an  indirect  allusion  of  prophecy,*  but  “Jesus 
of  Nazareth”  has  made  it  a  household  word.  Here  he 
grew  up  in  the  obscurity  of  a  carpenter-shop,  with  no 
other  means  of  education  than  the  Hebrew  Scriptures, 
which  in  prophecy  and  type  foretold  his  own  character 
and  mission,  and  the  book  of  nature  which,  from  the  sum¬ 
mit  of  the  hill,  spread  before  his  eyes  the  fertile  plain  of 

*  Matt.  3  :  23. 


NAZARETH. 


321 


Jezreel  in  the  south,  the  mountains  of  Tabor  and  Gilboa 
in  the  east,  the  lofty  Hermon  in  the  north,  and  Carmel 
with  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  sea  in  the  west — 
that  future  highway  of  the  gospel  of  peace  to  all  mankind. 
The  beautiful  surroundings,  laden  with  the  memories  of 
David  and  Jonathan,  Elijah  and  Elisha,  and  many  a  battle 
of  Israel,  afforded  educational  advantages  even  to  Him 
who,  like  other  men,  “grew  and  waxed  strong  in  spirit” 
and  “increased  in  wisdom  and  stature.”  Yet  they  can 
in  no  way  explain  the  astounding  result.  He  was  neither 
school-taught  nor  self-taught  nor  inspired  for  a  season 
like  the  prophets  ;  he  came  directly  from  God,  and  taught 
the  world  as  one  who  owed  nothing  to  its  books,  its 
schools,  its  history,  its  society,  its  favor ;  he  was  the 
Light  of  the  world  and  the  Truth  itself.  Explain  it  as 
you  may,  the  astounding  fact  is  there.  Jesus  of  Naza¬ 
reth  is  the  central  miracle  of  history. 

A  journey  of  three  days  brings  us  from  Jerusalem  to 
Nazareth,  after  spending  the  first  night  at  the  Robbers’ 
Fountain,  the  second  at  Jenin.  Coming  from  the  ruins 
of  Nain,  where  Christ  raised  the  only  son  of  a  widow 
from  death  to  life,  and  in  full  view  of  Tabor,  the  tradi¬ 
tional  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  we  ride  swiftly  over  the 
Plain  of  Esdraelon — the  historic  battlefield  of  Israel — and 
slowly  ascend  the  rocks  and  hills  to  En-Nasirah.  We 
cannot  see  it  till  we  are  quite  near.  It  is  not  perched  on 
the  hill-top,  like  Bethlehem  and  the  cities  of  Judah  and 
Benjamin,  but  in  a  basin  on  a  steep  slope  of  the  hill  to 
which  it  clings  like  an  amphitheatre.  Its  modest  retire¬ 
ment  may  account  for  its  proverbial  obscurity.  We  en- 


322 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


camp  a  little  distance  east  of  the  town,  close  by  “  the  Vir¬ 
gin’s  Fountain,”  from  which  Christ  and  his  mother  must 
have  drawn  their  daily  supply  of  water,  as  the  people  do 
now;  for  there  is  no  other  fountain  within  convenient 
reach.  It  is  the  only  certain  relic  of  the  days  of  Jesus 
in  this  home  of  his  youth.* 

As  we  walk  through  the  narrow,  crooked,  and  dirty 
streets  of  the  town,  passing  now  a  dead  dog  in  a  putres¬ 
cent  state,  now  an  immense  dung-heap  which  has  been 
allowed  to  accumulate  for  years  to  spread  disease,  and  as 
we  look  into  the  houses  or  holes  where  men,  camels,  and 
donkeys  live  together  on  terms  of  equality,  we  are  tempt¬ 
ed  to  ask.  Is  it  possible  that  the  eternal  Son  of  God, 
through  whom  the  worlds  were  made,  should  have  spent 
thirty  years,  all  his  boyhood,  youth,  and  early  manhood 
in  such  a  place  and  amid  such  surroundings,  among 
brethren  who  did  not  believe  in  him,f  and  neighbors 
who  attempted  to  cast  him  down  headlong  from  the  brow 
of  the  hill  for  preaching  the  acceptable  year  of  the 
Lord  '  Reason  doubts,  but  faith  adores  the  amazing 
condescension  of  God.  “  Can  any  good  thing  come  out 
of  Nazareth }”  was  Nathanael’s  question  when  he  first 
heard  from  Philip  of  the  son  of  Joseph.  But  when  he 

*  The  fountain  is  also  called  “Ain  Mariam,”  “Fons  Maria,”  “Ga¬ 
briel’s  Spring,”  “the  Fountain  of  the  Annunciation.”  It  is  not  mentioned 
in  the  New  Testament,  but  in  the  apocryphal  Gospel  of  St.  James,  and  the 
tradition  is  supported  bv  inherent  probability.  “  Es  ka/ui  nicht  z-weifel- 
haft  sent"  says  Tobler  {Nazareth.,  p.  214),  “  dass  Maria  zind  Jesus  zu  die- 
sem  Brttnnen  giiigcn  und  aus  dieseni  Brunnen  tranken.'’’  Tobler’s  Naza¬ 
reth  (Berlin,  1868,  344  pages),  with  a  topographical  map  by  Kev.  J.  Zeller, 
gives  the  fullest  and  most  accurate  description  of  the  town. 

t  John  7:5.  I  Luke  4:29. 


NAZARETH. 


323 


came  and  saw  with  his  own  eyes,  he  exclaimed,  “  Rabbi, 
thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  thou  art  the  King  of  Israel.” 
The  title  “Nazarene”  was  applied  to  Christ  and  his  fol¬ 
lowers  in  derision  and  contempt,  but  it  is  significant  of 
that  humiliation  and  outward  lowliness  which  is  at  all 
times  the  way  to  exaltation  and  glory.  Via  criicis  via 
htcis. 

The  town  as  well  as  the  whole  country  was  in  a  more 
prosperous  condition  at  the  time  of  Christ,  although  the 
people  were  no  better,  perhaps  worse,  than  now.  The 
despotic  and  stupid  Turkish  government  discourages 
every  form  of  industry,  and  taxes  every  fruit-tree  whether 
it  bears  or  not.  Many  farmers  cut  down  their  trees  to 
escape  taxation,  except  the  indispensable  olive  and  fig. 
A  few  years  ago  the  neighboring  Mount  Tabor  was  cov¬ 
ered  with  oaks,  but  now  it  is  almost  bare  on  the  southern 
slope. 

But  some  fine  buildings  have  recently  been  put  up  by 
foreigners,  and  compared  with  other  towns  of  this  un¬ 
happy  and  down-trodden  land  of  Palestine,  Nazareth  im¬ 
proves  upon  acquaintance.  It  is  better  built,  has  more 
decent  houses,  and  shows  more  industry  and  thrift  than 
any  of  the  miserable  villages  I  have  passed  through  since 
I  left  Jerusalem,  with  the  exception  of  Nabulus.  It  is 
the  chief  commercial  town  of  Galilee  and  the  mart  of 
exchange  between  the  merchants  of  Acre  and  Haifa,  and 
the  Bedawin.  Viewed  from  the  top  of  the  hill,  to  which 
in  all  probability  it  formerly  extended,  it  presents  a  pleas¬ 
ing  appearance,  while  the  view  from  that  hill  is  one  of 
the  most  extensive  and  charming  I  have  seen  in  the  East, 


324 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Lieutenant  Lynch  preferred  Nazareth  even  to  Bethlehem, 
and  calls  it  "  the  prettiest  place  in  Palestine.”  Renan,  in 
his  “  Life  of  Jesus,”  says  that  no  place  in  the  world  was 
so  well  adapted  to  “  dreams  of  absolute  happiness.” 

The  Christian  women  of  Nazareth  are  more  beautiful 
in  person,  more  cleanly  in  attire,  and  more  courteous  in 
manner  than  any  in  Palestine,  with  the  exception  of  their  i 
sisters  in  Bethlehem,  where  nearly  the  whole  population 
is  Christian.  They  certainly  contrast  favorably  with  the 
ignorance  and  degradation  of  women  in  purely  Moham¬ 
medan  villages.  Catholics  trace  the  exceptional  supe¬ 
riority  of  the  women  of  these  two  places  to  the  influence 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  who  is  to  them  the  perfection  of 
physical  as  well  as  moral  beauty  and  grace.  But  we  pre¬ 
fer  to  go  to  the  primary  source  of  the  Christian  religion 
which  everywhere  develops  true  womanhood.  The  Naz- 
arene  females  wear  around  their  forehead  and  face  a  roll 
of  silver  coins  (called  “semedi”),  to  which  our  Saviour 
alludes  in  the  parable  of  the  lost  piece  of  silver.*  They 
walk  the  streets  unveiled  and  mostly  barefooted,  and 
gather  every  morning  and  evening  around  the  marble 
trough  of  the  “Virgin’s  Fountain,”  gossiping  and  quar¬ 
relling,  and  filling  their  large  water-jars,  which  they 
carry  gracefully  on  their  heads.  I  was  touched  by  a 
beautiful  little  girl  that  took  me  by  the  hand  and  im¬ 
ploringly  looked  up  to  me  as  if  she  had  lost  her  father 
or  mother. 

The  fountain  is  fed  by  waters  from  the  hills,  and 

*  Luke  15:8.  The  ten  pieces  of  silver  here  spoken  of  are  drachmas, 
worth  17  cents  each,  though  relatively  worth  ten  times  as  much  then. 


NAZARETH. 


325 


never  fails.  It  is  in  a  better  condition  than  the  foun¬ 
tains  of  Jerusalem  and  Jacob’s  Well ;  yet  the  ground 
before  the  fountain  is  very  muddy,  and  even  the  muddy 
water  is  used.  It  marks  the  spot  where  the  angel,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  Greek  tradition,  first  appeared  to  the  Vir¬ 
gin  mother  with  his  astounding  message.  The  Greek 
Church  of  the  Annunciation  stands  near  the  fountain, 
but  is  closed,  and  looks  rude  and  gloomy  as  compared 
with  its  Franciscan  rival  in  the  town. 

The  population  of  Nazareth  is  variously  estimated 
from  4,000  to  10,000.  A  well-informed  resident  fixes 
the  number  at  8,000.  The  Orthodox  Greeks  are  the 
most  numerous  ;  next  come  the  Moslems,  then  the  Lat¬ 
ins,  United  Greeks,  Maronites,  and  Protestants.  The 
Latins  have  a  fine  convent  and  hospice,  the  Casa  Nuova 
Foresteria,  where  one  may  lodge  at  ten  francs  a  day. 
The  Protestants  number  not  more  than  one  hundred, 
but  represent  the  hope  of  the  future.  I  found  among 
them  some  intelligent  and  enterprising  members  of  the 
Hoffman  colony  of  Haifa  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Carmel. 

The  traditional  sights  of  Nazareth,  besides  the  Vir¬ 
gin’s  Fountain  already  described,  are  the  two  Churches  of 
the  Annunciation  (one  Latin  and  one  Greek),*  the  Kitch¬ 
en  of  the  Virgin  Mary  (her  house  was  transferred  by  an¬ 
gels  to  Loretto  centuries  ago !),  the  suspended  column 
(above  the  spot  where  Mary  received  the  angel’s  mes- 

*  On  the  marble  altar  of  the  crypt  below  the  Latin  Church  of  the 
Annunciation  is  the  inscription  :  “  Hie  Verbum  caro  facttt7n  es(”  the  pen¬ 
dent  to  the  inscription  beneath  the  Church  of  the  Nativity  in  Bethlehem: 
“  Hie  de  Virgine  Maria  Jesus  Christtis  natus  est.'" 


Bible  LiUidB. 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


325 

sage),  the  Workshop  of  Joseph  and  Jesus,  the  stone  Table 
at  which  Christ  often  dined  with  his  disciples  before  and 
after  the  resurrection,  the  Synagogue  in  which  he  taught, 
and  the  Rock  or  Mount  of  Precipitation  from  which  the 
Nazarenes  attempted  to  cast  him  down.  These  traditions 
are  utterly  worthless,  thexreatures  of  superstition  and  pi¬ 
ous  fraud.  The  rival  claims  of  the  Latins  and  the  Greeks 
to  the  possession  of  the  spot  of  the  Annunciation  neutral¬ 
ize  each  other,  not  to  speak  of  the  Casa  Santa  at  Loretto, 
which  in  no  way  fits  into  the  locality  of  her  alleged  home 
in  Nazareth.  In  no  place  are  local  traditions  of  holy 
places  so  palpably  wrong  and  irreconcilable.  “At  Naz¬ 
areth,”  says  Stanley,  “  there  are  three  counter-theories — 
each  irreconcilable  with  the  other — in  relation  to  the 
S23ecial  scene  which  has  been  selected  for  peculiar  rever¬ 
ence.”  He  then  enters  into  an  examination  of  that  most 
incredible  of  legends,  the  miraculous  removal  of  Mary’s 
house  by  angels  through  the  air,  first  to  Greece  and  then 
to  Italy,  and  shows  that  its  architecture  contradicts  that 
of  the  local  tradition.  He  calls  that  legend  (which  is  first 
mentioned  in  a  bull  of  Leo  X.,  1518)  the  petrifaction  of 
the  last  sigh  of  the  Crusaders.* 

The  traditional  Mount  of  Precipitation  is  two  miles 
off  from  the  town,  and  cannot  be  the  brow  of  the  hill 
“on  which  the  city  was  built.”  The  steep  rock  behind 
the  Maronite  church  would  have  answered  the  purpose 

*  See  his  plans  of  the  House  of  Loretto  and  the  Grotto  of  Nazareth 
in  the  new  edition  of  Sinai  and  Palestine,  London,  iS68,  p.  436.  The  plans 
were  drawn  from  actual  measurement  by  a  Roman-catholic  priest  of  the 
Oratory,  the  late  W.  II.  Hutchison. 


NAZARETH. 


327 


much  better,  and  agrees  with  the  description  of  Luke 
(chap.  4  :  29).  I  examined  the  spot  with  Mr.  Huber,  the 
resident  German  missionary,  and  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  this  is  in  all  probability  the  real  rock  of  precipi¬ 
tation. 

But  let  me  now  turn  to  the  signs  of  a  better  future, 
which  most  travellers  pass  by.  As  I  approached  Naza¬ 
reth,  my  attention  was  arrested  by  an  imposing  white 
building  situated  below  the  brow  of  the  hill,  and  com¬ 
manding  the  whole  town.  I  did  not  fail  to  visit  it,  and 
learned  that  it  was  an  orphanage,  established  in  1874  by 
the  English  “  Ladies’  Society  for  Promoting  Female  Ed¬ 
ucation  in  the  East.”  It  is  the  handsomest  building  of 
the  kind  in  all  Palestine,  and  is  kept  as  neat  and  clean 
as  any  schoolhouse  in  Europe  or  America.  The  princi¬ 
pal,  Miss  Mathilda  Dickson,  with  whom  I  had  a  long  and 
interesting  conversation,  is  a  highly-accomplished  and 
devoted  lady,  and  reminded  me,  by  her  zeal  for  mission 
work  and  the  elevation  of  the  female  sex,  of  the  late  Mrs. 
Doremus,  whose  praise  is  in  all  the  churches,  and  whose 
memory  will  never  fade.  The  orphanage  has  thirty-four 
boarders  (mostly  of  Greek,  some  of  Protestant,  a  few  of 
Mohammedan  parentage),  who  are  here  washed  and 
dressed,  and  taught  the  elements  of  domestic  and  social 
education,  Bible  history,  and  Christian  hymns.  It  is 
hoped  that  their  influence  will  tell  upon  their  future  hus¬ 
bands  and  children,  and  indirectly  prepare  the  way  for 
evangelical  Christianity.  It  must  be  confessed,  however, 
that  the  work  is  very  difficult;  for  girls  in  the  East  are 
married  very  young,  that  is,  they  are  bought  and  sold 


328 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


into  a  state  of  slavery.  The  institution  owns  the  hill, 
from  which  the  finest  view  is  enjoyed.  It  is  undenomi¬ 
national,  but  works  in  connection  with  the  Episcopal 
Church,  the  only  Protestant  church  in  Nazareth.  One  of 
its  good  effects  is  that  it  has  stimulated  the  zeal  of  the 
Greek  bishop,  who  started  a  rival  school  for  girls  in  1876. 

The  Protestant  church  is  a  beautiful  building  in  the 
heart  of  the  town.  It  was  founded  by  the  English  Church 
Missionary  Society,  and  stands  in  connection  with  the 
Anglo-Prussian  bishopric  of  Jerusalem.  The  gospel  is 
jjreached  here  in  Arabic  to  about  sixty  hearers,  and  a  large 
number  of  children  are  taught  in  the  Sabbath-school.  The 
first  minister  was  Rev.  J.  Zeller,  whose  wife — a  daughter 
of  Bishop  Gobat  of  Jerusalem — wrote  a  charming  book 
on  the  flowers  of  Palestine.  He  was  followed  by  the 
Rev.  Eranklin  Bellamy  (formerly  of  the  Royal  English 
Navy),  an  accomplished  and  liberal  clergyman.  He  in¬ 
vited  me  to  preach  ;  and  when  I  told  him  that  I  was  not 
an  Episcopalian,  he  said  that  it  made  no  difference,  as 
the  canons  did  not  apply  to  missionary  stations.  He  is 
assisted  by  a  catechist,  Mr.  Jacob  Huber,  who  was  edu¬ 
cated  in  the  Mission  House  at  Basle,  and  has  labored 
here  many  years  most  faithfully.  I  found  him  an  intel¬ 
ligent,  experienced,  and  obliging  gentleman.  He  spoke 
in  high  terms  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission  in  Beirut,  to 
which  the  Episcopal  mission  schools  are  indebted  for 
Christian  literature  in  the  Arabic  language. 

Einally,  I  must  mention  a  Christian  hospital  which 
was  founded  by  the  Edinburgh  Medical  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety  (undenominational,  but  chiefly  Presbyterian).  It 


NAZARETH. 


329 


is  very  ably  and  successfully  managed  by  Dr.  Vatian,  an 
Armenian  educated  in  Scotland.  His  medical  skill  is  a 
great  aid  to  the  Protestant  Mission. 


“  O  Thou  great  Friend  to  all  the  sons  of  men, 

Who  once  appeared  in  humblest  guise  below, 

Sin  to  rebuke,  to  break  the  captive’s  chain, 

And  call  thy  brethren  forth  from  want  and  woe, 

“  We  look  to  Thee!  Thy  truth  is  still  the  Light 
Which  guides  the  nations  groping  on  their  way. 
Stumbling  and  falling  in  disastrous  night. 

Yet  hoping  ever  for  the  perfect  day. 

“Yes;  Thou  art  still  the  Life,  Thou  art  the  Way 

The  holiest  know;  Light,  Life,  the  Way  of  heaven ! 
And  they  who  dearest  hope  and  deepest  pray 
Toil  by  the  Light,  Life,  Way,  which  Thou  has  given.” 


28* 


330 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

TABOR  AND  HERMON. 

Mount  Tabor — Its  Central  Situation  and  Beautiful 
Shape  —  The  View  from  the  Summit — Mount 
Hermon — Its  Majesty  and  Grandeur — The 

Transfiguration  — Dispute  about  the  Locality  — 
Arguments  for  Hermon — Import  of  the  Event — 
Raphael’s  Crowning  Work. 

Mount  Tabor  is  the  Rigi,  Mount  Hermon  the  Mont 
Blanc,  of  Palestine.  They  are  the  two  representative 
mountains  of  that  country,  the  one  for  its  gracefulness, 
the  other  for  its  loftiness.  They  are  not  mentioned  in 
the  New  Testament,  but  repeatedly  in  the  Old.  They 
are  associated  together  by  the  Psalmist  when  he  says, 
“Tabor  and  Hermon  shall  rejoice  in  thy  name.”*  Some 
of  the  greatest  events  in  the  history  of  Revelation,  from 
the  legislation  of  Moses  to  the  Ascension  of  Christ,  took 
place  on  mountains.  Tabor  or  Hermon,  probably  the 
latter,  is  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration. 

Mount  Tabor!  lies  right  in  the  centre  of  the  Holy 
Land,  about  six  or  eight  miles  east  of  Nazareth,  from 
which  it  can  be  reached  in  two  hours.  It  is  wholly  of 
limestone.  It  rises  isolated  and  alone  in  its  glory  from 

*  Psa.  89:12:  comp.  J er.  46:18:  “  As  T abor  is  among  the  mountains, 
and  as  Carmel  by  the  sea.”  Hos.  5:1:  “A  net  spread  upon  Tabor.” 

t  ’IraPvpiov  in  the  Septuagint.  The  Arabs  call  it  by  the  same  name  as 
Mount  Olivet,  “  Jebel  et-Tur.” 


MOUNT  TA  BOR. 


TABOR  AND  HERMON 


'>  ‘i  T 

0  J  ^ 

the  plain  of  Esdraelon  to  a  height  of  1,400  feet  from  the 
base,  or  1,900  from  the  level  of  the  sea.  Owing  to  its 
isolation,  it  appears  twice  as  large  as  it  really  is.  It  can 
easily  be  ascended  from  every  side  in  an  hour,  on  foot  or 
on  horseback.  It  would  have  been,  according  to  a  rab¬ 
binical  saying,  the  best  site  by  nature  for  the  national 
sanctuary,  if  a  special  revelation  had  not  determined  the 
location  of  the  temple  on  Mount  Moriah. 

Tabor  has  a  rare  symmetrical  beauty  of  shape,  and 
commands  one  of  the  finest  views  in  all  Palestine.  It  is 
rounded  off  like  a  hemisphere,  and  clothed  with  grass 
and  a  forest  of  oaks,  except  on  the  southern  slope,  where 
modern  vandalism  has  destroyed  the  growth  of  nature. 
The  top  is  a  flattened  platform,  from  which  the  eye  can 
wander  over  some  of  the  most  classical  spots  on  earth. 
It  is  not  indeed  a  panorama  of  romantic  lakes,  winding 
rivers,  flourishing  towns,  snow-capped  Alps  such  as  you 
may  enjoy  from  Rigi-Kulm — yet  a  panorama  lovely  and 
beautiful,  and  pregnant  with  associations  more  important 
than  Ktissnacht,  Griitli,  Morgarten,  and  Goldau.  Tow¬ 
ards  the  west  you  see  the  hills  of  Nazareth,  and  farther 
on  Mount  Carmel  and  the  Mediterranean  ;  towards  the 
north  the  Lake  of  Tiberias,  the  mountains  of  Naphtali, 
and  the  snow-peaks  of  Hermon ;  in  the  south  the  ruins 
of  Nain  and  Endor,  the  Little  Hermon,  and  Mount  Gil- 
boa,  where  Jonathan  fell ;  in  the  east  and  beyond  the 
Jordan,  the  mountains  of  Bashan  and  Gilead. 

Mount  Hermon  is  less  graceful,  but  more  imposing 
and  sublime.  It  is  called  “Jebel  esh-Sheikh  ”  by  the 
Arabs,  i.  e.,  the  chief  mountain.  It  rises  on  the  northern 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


extremity  of  Galilee  to  a  height  of  10,000  feet  above  the 
Mediterranean,  and  presents  three  lofty  peaks.  It  is 
covered  with  eternal  snow,  which  gives  it  a  glistening 
appearance.  It  can  be  seen  from  every  direction  far 
and  wide,  from  Gerizim  and  Tabor  in  the  south,  from 
Damascus  in  the  east,  from  the  northern  heights  of  the 
Antilebanon  and  Lebanon,  and  from  the  plains  of  Coele- 
syria.  Moses  saw  it  from  the  top  of  Pisgah  in  Moab, 
when  “  the  Lord  showed  him  all  the  land  of  Gilead  unto 
Dan.”  At  its  southern  base  lies  Banias  or  Caesarea 
Philippi,  one  of  the  most  romantic  spots  in  Palestine. 
Here  the  river  Jordan  gushes  out  from  the  rocks.  Here, 
on  the  boundary  line  between  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles, 
our  Saviour  spent  several  days  before  he  entered  on  his 
last  journey  to  Jerusalem.  Here  he  elicited  from  Peter 
that  famous  confession,  from  which,  as  from  a  spiritual 
rock,  have  sprung  the  Christian  confessions  and  creeds 
of  subsequent  ages.  Here  he  prophesied  the  founding 
of  his  indestructible  Church,  his  passion  and  resurrec¬ 
tion. 

Tabor  and  Hermon  are  the  two  claimants  for  the 
honor  of  being  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  or  “the 
holy  mount,”  as  Peter  calls  it.*  It  was  certainly  “  a 
high  mountain,”  according  to  the  Evangelists,  and  the 
choice  lies  between  these  two.  Both  are  in  themselves 
equally  well  fitted  for  the  event,  Tabor  rather  than  Her¬ 
mon,  on  account  of  its  central  location  in  Palestine,  only 
a  few  miles  from  Nazareth  and  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret, 

Matt.  17:1-13;  Mark  9:2-13;  Luke  9:28-36;  comp.  2  Peter 

I  :  16-18. 


TABOR  AND  HERMON 


333 

where  our  Saviour  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  on 
earth. 

Tabor  has  in  its  favor  the  monastic  tradition,  which 
goes  back  to  St,  Jerome  in  the  fourth  century,  and  which 
gave  rise  to  a  number  of  buildings  on  the  summit.  There 
is  a  Latin  convent ;  a  little  farther  down,  a  Greek  con¬ 
vent,  inhabited  by  a  few  lonely  monks,  who  offer  shelter 
and  refreshment  to  pilgrims  and  travellers.  Each  claims 
to  be  built  on  or  very  near  the  spot  where  the  Transfig¬ 
uration  took  place.  The  Latin  monk,  an  Italian  Francis¬ 
can,  gave  us  lemonade  and  showed  us  the  ruins  of  three 
churches  of  the  Crusaders.  They  were  to  correspond  to 
the  three  tents  which  Peter  in  his  dreamy  state,  “  not 
knowing  what  he  said,”  desired  to  build,  one  for  his 
Lord,  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elijah,  being  content 
for  himself  and  his  two  fellow-disciples  to  watch  out¬ 
side.  In  the  Greek  Church  the  festival  of  the  Transfig¬ 
uration  is  called  after  the  mountain  “  the  Taborion.”* 

But  two  arguments  are  against  Tabor  and  in  favor  of 
Hermon. 

(i.)  The  fact  that  the  summit  of  Tabor  was  occupied 
by  a  city  of  the  tribe  of  Zebulon,f  and  was  employed 
without  intermission  between  the  times  of  Antiochus  the 
Great,  218  b.  c.,  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  a.  d.  70, 
as  a  fortification,  and  hence  unfit  for  quiet  seclusion  and 
meditation.  J 

*  rb  ^a[3(jpiov. 

t  I  Chron.  6  :  77  :  “  Tabor  with  her  suburbs.” 

t  See  Polybius  V.  70,  6  ;  Josephus,  A7it.  XIV.  6,  3;  Bell.  Jud.  I.  8,  7  ; 
ir.  20,  6;  IV.  I,  8. 


334 


BIBLE  LANDS, 


(2.)  More  conclusive  than  this  local  objection  is  the 
succession  of  events  and  the  short  interval  between  them. 
The  transfiguration  took  place  “six  days”  after  Peter’s 
confession  in  Caesarea  Philippi,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Her- 
mon,*  and  was  followed  by  a  journey  to  Capernaum,  and 
thence  to  Jerusalem.!  This  is  all  plain  if  we  locate  the 
transfiguration  on  Hermon  ;  but  it  would  have  been  a 
waste  of  time  if  Jesus  should  have  travelled  from  Caesa¬ 
rea  Philippi  to  Mount  Tabor,  passing  Capernaum  on  the 
way,  and  gone  back  from  Mount  Tabor  to  Capernaum, 
then  to  proceed  again  southward  to  Jerusalem.  More¬ 
over,  “  it  is  exceedingly  improbable  that  Christ  should  so 
suddenly  have  left  his  retreat  in  the  highlands  of  Gaula- 
nitis,  and  transferred  the  scene  of  one  of  his  most  secret 
revelations  to  Galilee,  where  he  was  everywhere  perse¬ 
cuted.”! 

On  Mount  Hermon  there  are  several  retired  plat¬ 
forms  where  Christ  and  his  disciples  might  have  been 
“apart  by  themselves,”  and  met  their  heavenly  visitors 
without  fear  of  disturbance  from  any  quarter.  It  is  very 
significant  that  the  transfiguration,  as  well  as  the  prece¬ 
ding  confession  of  Peter,  should  have  occurred  on  this 
border  region  between  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles,  as  if  in 
anticipation  of  the  triumph  of  the  gospel  in  the  heathen 
world. 

The  transfiguration  of  Christ  took  place  shortly  be- 

*  t'f.  Matt.  17:1;  Mark  9:2;  or  more  indefinitely  uod  Tjjiipai 

(jktC),  Luke  9  ;  28. 

t  Matt.  17:24;  Mark  9  :  33. 

t  Lange  on  Matt.  17  :  i  (p.  306,  Am.  ed.).  Ritter,  Robinson,  Stanley, 
and  Tristram  likewise  decide  again.'t  Tabor. 


TABOR  AND  HERMON. 


335 


fore  his  passion  and  in  anticipation  of  his  final  glorifica¬ 
tion,  before  the  representatives  of  the  Old  Dispensation, 
Moses  the  lawgiver,  and  Elijah  the  mighty  prophet,  who 
had  mysteriously  disappeared  from  earth,  and  now  ap¬ 
peared  again  from  the  spirit-world  to  do  homage  to  the 
Fulfiller  of  the  law  and  the  promise,  and  to  consign  to 
him  their  expiring  authority ;  and  before  the  representa¬ 
tive  apostles  of  the  New  Dispensation,  Peter,  James,  and 
John,  who  were  here  fortified  against  the  severe  trial  of 
their  faith  at  the  approaching  crucifixion.  It  was  a  visi¬ 
ble  manifestation  and  effulgence  of  the  hidden  glory  of 
Christ’s  person,  accompanied  by  an  audible  voice  from 
heaven  declaring  him,  as  on  the  day  of  baptism,  the  Son 
of  God,  on  whom  the  Father  had  fixed  his  delight.  It 
was  a  sure  pledge  of  his  own  exaltation  and  of  the  future 
glory  of  his  people,  when  our  mortal  bodies  shall  put  on 
immortality  and  see  him  as  he  is.  It  furnishes  a  stri¬ 
king  proof  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  the  intercom¬ 
munion  between  heaven  and  earth,  and  the  harmony  of 
the  two  Dispensations,  which  meet  in  the  divine-human 
person  and  atoning  work  of  Christ.  After  the  scene  the 
disciples  saw  no  one  but  Jesus  alone.  Moses  and  Elijah 
disappeared  again,  the  types  and  shadows  departed,  the 
substance  remained  :  Christ  all  in  all. 

Every  one  knows  the  picture  of  the  Transfiguration 
in  the  Vatican,  which  represents  the  Saviour  soaring 
above  the  earth  and  floating  in  glory,  Moses  and  Elijah 
bowing  in  adoration  before  him,  the  disciples  overpow¬ 
ered  by  the  dazzling  light,  and  below,  in  startling  con¬ 
trast  to  this  scene  of  celestial  peace,  the  misery  of  the 


336 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


lunatic  whose  healing  follows  in  the  gospel  narrative.  It 
is  one  of  the  sublimest  conceptions  of  human  genius,  and 
yet  but  an  imperfect  reflection  of  the  reality.  It  was  the 
last  work  of  Raphael,  and  accompanied  his  coffin  to  the 
grave  in  the  Pantheon.  He  died  of  the  transfiguration, 
in  the  prime  of  manhood  ;  but  his  picture,  multiplied  in 
ten  thousand  copies  all  over  the  earth,  will  continue  to 
preach  to  admiring  beholders  the  best  sermon  on  this 
supernatural  event. 


THE  LAKE  OF  GALILEE.  337 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE  LAKE  OF  GALILEE. 

Biblical  Associations  —  The  Scene  of  our  Lord’s 
Teaching  and  Miracles  —  Ride  from  Nazareth  to 
the  Lake  of  Galilee  —  The  Horns  of  Hattin,  the 
Mount  of  Beatitudes  —  The  disastrous  Battle  of 
the  Crusaders  and  the  Loss  of  Palestine — The 
City  of  Tiberias — Magdala  —  The  Lake  of  Galilee 
in  the  First  and  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  — 
Description  of  Josephus — Present  Condition. 

Next  to  Jerusalem,  Bethlehem,  and  Nazareth,  no  part 
of  Palestine  has  greater  interest  to  the  reader  of  the 
Bible  than  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  or,  as  it  is  now  called, 
“Bahr  Ttibariyeh.”*  In  that  region  of  country  our  Sav¬ 
iour  spent  a  great  part  of  his  public  life.  There  he  called 
Simon  Peter  and  Andrew,  James  and  John,  to  follow  him 
and  to  become  fishers  of  men.  There  he  proclaimed  from 
the  Mount  of  Beatitudes  the  Magna  Charta  of  his  heav¬ 
enly  kingdom — the  counterpart  of  the  Mosaic  legislation 
from  the  mount  of  terror  that  “burned  with  fire.”  There 
he  spoke,  from  the  ship  on  the  seashore,  most  of  those 
incomparable  parables  of  the  kingdom,  its  beginning,  its 
outer  and  inner  growth,  its  value,  its  conflict  with  the 
world,  and  its  final  triumph.  There  he  wrought  his  mir¬ 
acles  of  power  and  mercy.  There  he  made  the  winds 

*  It  is  also  called  the  Sea  of  Chiuncreth  or  Chintteroth  (the  Hebrew 
name  for  Gewiesaret),  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret  or  Gennesar,  the  Lake  (or 
Sea)  of  Tiberias. 


Bible  Lands. 


29 


338 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


and  the  sea  obey  him.  There  he  went  about  teaching 
in  the  synagogues,  preaching  the  good  tidings,  healing 
all  manner  of  disease  and  sickness,  and  doing  good  to 
the  bodies  and  souls  of  men,  Capernaum  was  his  resi¬ 
dence  after  the  Nazarenes  had  blindly  rejected  him.  And 
after  his  resurrection  he  manifested  himself  to  the  disci¬ 
ples  on  the  shores  of  the  lake. 

We  reached  Tiberias  in  an  easy  and  delightful  day’s 
ride  from  Nazareth,  crossing  Mount  Tabor,  which  eccle¬ 
siastical  tradition  associates  with  the  Transfiguration,  and 
passing  the  Horns  of  Hattin  (Kurun  Hattin),  which  the 
Latin  tradition  points  out  as  the  Mount  of  Beatitudes. 
It  is  easy  of  access  from  all  sides,  and  has  a  double  plat¬ 
form — one  higher,  one  lower — well  suited  for  the  gather¬ 
ing  of  a  sm.aller  circle  of  disciples  and  of  a  large  multi¬ 
tude,  to  whom  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  was  delivered.* 
But  this  tradition  must  be  le/t  in  doubt,  since  the  Evan¬ 
gelists  do  not  name  the  mountain,  and  since  “  there  are,” 
as  Dr.  Robinson  says,  “  in  the  vicinity  of  the  lake  per¬ 
haps  a  dozen  other  mountains  which  would  answer  just 
as  well  to  the  circumstances  of  the  history.”  In  this 
region  the  last  and  fatal  battle  of  the  Crusaders,  called 
the  battle  of  Hattin,  was  fought  on  the  fourth  or  fifth  of 
July,  1187,  when  the  flower  of  the  Christian  chivalry  was 
nearly  annihilated  by  Sultan  Saladin.  It  was  immedi¬ 
ately  followed  by  the  subjugation  of  Jerusalem  and  all 
Palestine  to  the  yoke  of  the  Moslems,  under  which  they 
are  still  groaning. 

*  Comp.  Matt.  5:1;  Mark  4  ;  7,  8 :  Luke  6:17;  and  Lange’s  commen¬ 
taries  in  loc. 


THE  LAKE  OF  GALILEE. 


339 


We  arrived  in  camp  before  sunset,  half  a  mile  south 
of  the  city  of  Tiberias,  and  took  at  once  a  most  refreshing 
bath  in  the  lake,  as  we  did  twice  on  the  day  following. 

Tiberias  (Tubariyeh),  built  by  Herod  Antipas,  a.  d. 
20,  was  once  a  famous  seat  of  rabbinical  learning,  and  is 
still  one  of  the  two  holy  cities  of  the  Jews  in  Galilee — 
Safed  being  the  other — as  Jerusalem  and  Hebron  are 
their  holy  cities  in  Judaea.  It  is  now  a  miserable,  dirty 
place,  inhabited  by  Jews  and  Moslems,  and  subject  to 
earthquakes,  in  one  of  which  (1837)  half  of  the  popula¬ 
tion  perished,  and  the  walls  were  thrown  down.  It  seemed 
to  me  to  be  the  very  headquarters  of  Beelzebub ;  for  as 
soon  as  we  lighted  our  candles  in  the  tent  the  table  was 
literally  covered  with  flies,  so  that  Ave  had  to  extinguish 
the  lights  and  sit  in  darkness.  And  yet  Tiberias  is  the 
most  important  town,  in  fact  the  only  town  deserving  of 
the  name,  on  this  whole  lake.  This  is  a  fair  specimen  of 
the  startling  contrast  between  the  Galilee  of  the  first  and 
the  Galilee  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  only  other 
place  is  Mejdel,  the  ancient  Magdala,  in  the  plain  of 
Gennesaret,  containing  about  a  dozen  of  wretched  Mos¬ 
lem  hovels,  but  recalling  the  memory  of  Mary  Magdalene, 

“  The  sweet  fragrance  of  whose  ointment 
All  the  earth  is  filling  now, 

And  whose  tears  are  turned  to  jewels 
For  a  crown  upon  her  brow.” 

During  the  public  life  of  our  Lord  the  shores  of  the 
lake  were  the  most  densely  populated  and  the  most  flour¬ 
ishing  part  of  Palestine  ;  now  it  is  the  most  deserted. 
Then  nine  cities  teeming  with  life  adorned  the  shores  ; 


340 


BIBLE  LANDS. ' 


now  you  see  nothing  but  Tiberias,  Magdala,  and  a  few 
shapeless  ruins.  Then  the  lake  was  covered  with  sails 
of  ships  passing  from  shore  to  shore  ;  now  there  are  only 
about  three  rough  fishing-boats  to  be  seen. 

Josephus  relates  a  victorious  naval  battle  which  Ves¬ 
pasian  fought  on  the  lake  against  the  Jews  before  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  gives  a  glowing  account  of 
that  country  in  his  day.  “  The  waters  of  the  lake,”  he 
says  in  substance,  “are  sweet,  and  extremely  pleasant  to 
drink ;  fish  found  here  differ  from  others  in  flavor  and 
species  ;  the  surrounding  country  is  admirable  for  its 
quality  and  beauty.  Such  is  the  fertility  of  the  soil  that 
it  rejects  no  plant,  and  so  genial  is  the  climate  that  it 
suits  every  variety  ;  the  walnut,  which  delights  in  a  win¬ 
try  climate,  grows  here  luxuriantly,  together  with  the 
palm-tree  which  is  nourished  by  heat,  and  near  to  those 
are  figs  and  olives  to  which  a  milder  atmosphere  has 
been  assigned.  One  might  style  this  an  ambitious  effort 
of  nature,  doing  violence  to  herself  in  bringing  together 
plants  of  discordant  habits,  and  an  amiable  rivalry  of  the 
seasons,  each  as  it  were  asserting  its  right  to  the  soil  ; 
for  it  not  only  possesses  the  extraordinary  virtue  of  nour¬ 
ishing  fruits  of  opposite  climes,  but  also  maintains  a  con¬ 
tinual  supply  of  them.  Thus  it  produces  those  most 
royal  of  all,  the  grape  and  the  fig,  during  ten  months, 
without  intermission,  while  the  other  varieties  ripen  the 
year  round  ;  for  besides  being  favored  by  the  genial  tem¬ 
perature  of  the  air,  it  is  irrigated  by  a  highly  fertilizing 
spring,  called  Capharnaum  by  the  people  of  the  country.”* 
*•  Bi’//.  Jud.  III.  10,  8. 


TIBERIAS  AND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


THE  LAKE  OF  GALILEE. 


341 


This  description  reads  like  irony  when  compared 
with  the  present  condition.  No  roads,  no  houses,  no 
gardens,  no  cultivated  farms  meet  the  eye  along  the 
shore,  but  wild  grass,  briers,  and  thistles  in  abundance. 

And  yet  nature  in  its  beauty  is  still  there,  notwith¬ 
standing  the  vandalism  of  men.  There  is  the  lake  with 
its  clear  blue  waters ;  there  the  hills  in  the  light  of  the 
sun  ;  there  the  plain  of  Gennesaret  with  its  tropical  fer¬ 
tility.  The  bright  red  magnolias  grow  luxuriantly  among 
thistles  and  thorns,  and  occasionally  even  the  fig,  the 
olive,  the  pomegranate,  the  date-palm,  the  sugar-cane  may 
still  be  found  there.  The  lake  district  presents  a  beautiful 
picture,  not  indeed  so  grand  and  sublime  as  the  lakes  of 
Switzerland,  nor  so  lovely  and  charming  as  the  lakes  of 
Northern  Italy,  but  with  a  richer  history,  a  warmer  cli¬ 
mate,  and  a  better  soil.  It  might  be  made  an  earthly  par¬ 
adise  under  a  good  government  and  with  an  industrious 
people.  If  it  were  not  for  the  utter  absence  of  conven¬ 
ience  and  comfort,  such  as  every  traveller  from  the  West 
now  looks  for,  one  might  delightfully  spend  weeks  on 
those  shores  consecrated  by  the  life  and  example  of  the 
wisest  of  the  wise  and  the  purest  of  the  pure  that  ever 
trod  this  earth. 

The  lake  forms  a  triangular  oval  or  pear  shape,  with 
the  broad  end  towards  the  north.  It  almost  resembles 
a  harp.  It  is  over  12  (Biideker  says  16%)  miles  long,  6 
miles  broad,  160  feet  deep.  It  lies  60  miles  northeast  of 
Jerusalem,  and  27  miles  east  of  the  Mediterranean.  It 
is  on  an  average  660  (the  Dead  Sea  is  1,292)  feet  be¬ 
low  the  Mediterranean.  It  abounds  in  fish.  Its  water 

29* 


342 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


is  slightly  saline,  but  pure  and  wholesome.  The  Jordan 
enters  in  from  the  north.  All  the  towns  which  supplied 
the  names  of  the  lake  were  situated  on  the  western  shore. 
On  the  northwestern  shore  is  the  plain  of  Gennesa- 
ret  (El-Ghuweir),  about  three  miles  long  and  one  mile 
broad.  The  surrounding  hills  are  of  limestone  capped 
with  basalt,  and  are  small  and  bare.  There  are  hot 
springs  near  Tiberias,  but  neglected.  Earthquakes  and 
violent  storms  are  not  infrequent.  Dr.  Thomson,  Cap¬ 
tain  Wilson,  and  others  witnessed  sudden  thunderstorms 
not  unlike  that  which  frightened  the  disciples,  till  the 
Lord  rebuked  the  wind,  and  said  unto  the  sea,  “  Peace, 
be  still !” 


CAPERNAUM,  ETC. 


343 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

CAPERNAUM,  BETHS  AIDA,  AND  CBORAZIN. 

The  Prophecy  of  Christ  on  the  Cities  of  Galilee  and 
its  Literal  Fulfilment— Capernaum— Bethsaida— 
Chorazin — A  Boat  Row  from  Tiberias — The  Plain 
of  Gennesaret — Magdala — Gergesa  and  the  Herd 
of  Swine  — Khan  Minyeh  —  Et-Tabighah  —  Tell 
Hum— Kerazeh— The  Capernaum  Controversy. 

“  Then  began  he  to  upbraid  the  cities  wherein  most  of  his 
mighty  works  were  done,  because  they  repented  not.  Woe  unto 
thee,  Chorazin !  Woe  unto  thee,  Bethsaida!  For  if  the  mighty 
works  had  been  done  in  Tyre  and  Sidon  which  were  done  in  you, 
they  would  have  repented  long  ago  in  sackcloth  and  ashes.  But  I 
say  unto  you.  It  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  Tyre  and  Sidon  in  the 
day  of  judgment,  than  for  you.  And  thou,  Capernaum,  shalt  thou 
be  exalted  unto  heaven?  Nay,  thou  shalt  be  brought  down  unto 
hades :  for  if  the  mighty  works  had  been  done  in  Sodom  which 
were  done  in  thee,  it  would  have  remained  until  this  day.  But  I 
say  unto  you,  It  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  the  land  of  Sodom  in 
the  day  of  judgment,  than  for  thee.”* 

This  solemn  prophecy  of  the  Son  of  Man  has  been 
fearfully  fulfilled  to  the  letter.  Capernaum,  Bethsaida, 
and  Chorazin,  once  flourishing  towns  on  the  western 
shore  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee,  have  long  since  disappeared 
from  the  face  of  the  earth,  “leaving  no  wreck  behind.” 
Once  raised  to  the  heaven  of  gospel  privileges,  they  have 

*  Matt.  1 1  :  20-24.  The  correct  reading  in  ver.  23  is  a  question  an¬ 
ticipating  a  negative  answer.  Hades  (mistranslated  “hell”  in  our  Eng¬ 
lish  Version)  is  not  the  place  of  eternal  punishment,  hut  the  realm  of  the 
dead,  and  is  used  here  as  a  figure  of  death  and  desolation,  which  that  re¬ 
gion  presents  to-day. 


344 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


sunk  down  to  the  hades  of  oblivion.  The  ruins  of  the 
heathen  cities  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  on  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  are  well  known,  but  the  site  of  those 
ancient  towns  of  Galilee  is  still  a  matter  of  doubt  and 
controversy.  Yet  the  glorious  truths  and  solemn  warn¬ 
ings  to  which  they  listened  with  deaf  ears,  and  the  mira¬ 
cles  of  mercy  which  they  witnessed  and  traced  to  Satanic 
agency,  have  shaken  thrones  and  converted  nations,  and 
will  be  preached  from  ten  thousand  pulpits  for  weal  or 
woe  to  the  end  of  time. 

Capernaum  (the  town  of  Nahum),  the  most  important 
and  the  most  guilty  of  those  cities  (hence  mentioned  last 
in  the  rising  climax  of  woe),  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Old 
Testament,  but  frequently  in  the  Gospels.* * * §'  It  was  the 
home  of  our  Lord  after  he  left  Nazareth,  and  is  therefore 
called  “  his  own  city.”f  It  was  the  residence  of  Peter  and 
his  mother-in-law, t  and  probably  also  of  Matthew,  who 
was  called  from  the  customhouse  to  the  apostolate,  and 
consecrated  his  experience  in  bookkeeping  to  the  orderly 
topical  arrangement  of  the  works  and  words  of  his  divine 
Master.§  It  lay  on  the  northwestern  shore  of  the  Sea 
of  Galilee,  hence  called  “  the  maritime,”  and  in  the  bor¬ 
ders  of  Zebulun  and  Naphtali.||  The  town  was  large 
enough  to  be  called  a  city.  It  had  a  flourishing  com¬ 
merce,  a  customhouse,^  and  a  large  synagogue  built  by 
that  God-fearing  and  benevolent  Roman  centurion  whose 

*  Matt.  4:13;  8:5;  11:23;  17  :  24  ;  Mark  1:21;  2:1;  9:33;  Luke 

4  :  23,  31  ;  7:1;  10:  13:  John  2:12;  4:46;  6:  17,  24,  59. 

t  M.att.  4:13;  9  :  [  Tijv  ii'iav  -Kuhv).  J  Luke  4  ;  38-41. 

§  Matt.  9:9.  II  Matt.  4:13.  1  Matt.  9:9-11. 


CAPERNAUM,  ETC. 


345 


servant  Christ  healed  and  whose  rare  faith  he  commend¬ 
ed.*  Its  site  is  found  either  at  Khan  Minyeh  at  the 
northern  end  of  the  j^lain  of  Gennesarct,  or  more  proba¬ 
bly  at  Tell  Hum. 

Bethsaida  (The  House  of  Fish,  Fishtown)  was  the 
native  place  of  Peter,  Andrew,  Philip,  James,  and  John, 
those  illiterate  fishermen  who  became  fishers  of  men  and 
the  spiritual  guides  of  nations. f  It  is  usually  distin¬ 
guished  as  Bethsaida  of  Galilee  from  Bethsaida  Julias,  and 
then  variously  located  at  Khan  Minyeh,  or  at  Tabighah, 
or  at  Tell  Hum.  But  according  to  a  recent  and  more 
probable  theory,  the  two  Bethsaidas  are  only  the  two 
parts  of  one  and  the  same  town  on  both  banks  of  the 
Jordan  near  its  entrance  into  the  lake  ;  for  it  is  extremely 
improbable  that  two  towns  in  so  close  neighborhood 
should  have  borne  the  same  name. 

Chorazin  is  only  mentioned  twice, J  and  must  be 
identical  with  the  ruins  of  Kerazeh. 

Let  us  now  pass  up  the  western  shore  of  the  lake 
and  see  what  is  left  of  these  places  so  full  of  precious 
reminiscences  from  the  days  of  our  childhood. 

We  leave  Tiberias  early  in  the  morning  and  embark 
in  a  coarse  fishing-boat.  After  a  delightful  row  of  an 
hour,  we  mount  our  horses  and  ride  over  the  Land  of 
Gennesar,  or  Gennesaret,§  now  called  “  El-Ghuweir 

^  *  Luke  7  :  l-io. 

t  Matt.  9:21;  Mark  6:4,  5 ;  8  :  22  :  Luke  9 :  10 ;  10:13;  John  i  :  44  ; 
12  :  21.  t  Matt.  II  :  21 ;  Luke  10  : 13. 

§  Matt.  14  :  34 ;  Mark  6  :  53.  Gennesar  is  probably  derived  from 
gani  and  sar,  and  means  the  paradise  of  the  prince. 


346 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


that  is,  the  Little  Ghor,  or  Plain.  It  is  a  triangular  plain 
extending  three  miles  along  the  shore  and  more  than  a 
mile  back  towards  the  hills.  The  southern  half  is  well 
watered  by  several  springs  ;  the  northern  portion  was 
formerly  irrigated  from  ’Ain  Tabighah  through  an  aque-= 
duct  now  in  ruins.  It  was  once,  as  the  name  suggests, 
a  rich  garden  which  supplied  Jerusalem  with  choice  fruit. 
Though  greatly  neglected,  it  still  produces  excellent 
wheat,  melons,  cucumbers,  olives,  and  figs.  To  this  plain 
emphatically  applies  the  glowing  description  of  Josephus 
which  we  have  quoted  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

The  only  village  left  in  the  plain,  at  its  southern  end, 
is  a  cluster  of  wretched  hovels  called  Mejdel,  the  an¬ 
cient  Magdala  (Migdal  El,  the  Tower  of  God),  and  birth¬ 
place  of  Mary  Magdalene.  On  the  top  of  the  huts  are 
little  sleeping-places,  to  which  the  inhabitants  retire  in 
summer  to  escape  the  scorpions,  lizards,  and  vermin, 
which  abound  below. 

Nearly  opposite  Mejdel,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the 
lake,  are  the  ruins  of  Chersa,  or  Khersa,  on  the  slope 
of  a  hill  in  Wady  Semakh,  within  forty  feet  of  the  water’s 
edge.  The  walls  can  still  be  traced  all  around.  This  place 
has  been  recently  identified*  with  the  Biblical  Gergesa, 
where  Christ  cast  out  the  fierce  demons  and  permitted 
them  to  enter  a  herd  of  swine ;  whereupon  these  other¬ 
wise  so  stubborn  creatures,  urged  by  a  preternatural  im¬ 
pulse  and  seized  by  a  sudden  panic,  rushed  down  pell- 
mell  the  steep  precipice  and  perished  in  the  lake.  The 
narrative  of  the  Evangelists  corresponds  precisely  with 

*  By  Dr.  Thomson,  T/ie  Land  and  the  Book,  II.  34-3S. 


CAPERNAUM,  ETC. 


IA7 


the  nature  of  the  locality  as  described  by  Thomson  and 
Macgregor.  Wild-hogs  still  abound  there,  ploughing  the 
ground  in  search  of  esculent  roots.* 

We  stretch  our  tent  for  the  night  at  the  northern  end 
of  the  plain,  below  a  cliff,  near  the  shore  and  the  Foun¬ 
tain  of  the  Fig-tree  (’Ain  et  Tin).  The  place  is  called 
Khan  Minyeh,  from  the  ruins  of  a  large  Arab  khan,  or 
caravansary,  built  in  the  time  of  Saladin  for  the  conven¬ 
ience  of  travellers  to  Damascus.  The  name  Minyeh  is 
said  (by  Sepp)  to  be  derived  from  Minim,  or  Minseans,  a 
rabbinical  designation  of  heretics.  Consequently  Khan 
Minyeh  would  mean  “  the  Inn  of  Heretics,”  and  Kefr 
Minyeh  “the  Village  of  Heretics,”  i.  e.,  probably  Jewish 
Christians  who  may  have  resided  there.  We  carefully 
hunt  for  ruins  which  might  justify  its  claim  to  be  the 
site  of  ancient  Capernaum,  but  can  find  only  stones  and 
broken  pottery.  Dr.  Robinson  accounts  for  the  absence 
of  ruins  by  the  vicinity  of  Tiberias,  to  which  they  may  have 
been  transported  by  water.  But  Tiberias  was  already 
built  when  Capernaum  was  in  its  prosperity ;  and  ruins 
of  a  large  town,  such  as  Capernaum  must  have  been,  in¬ 
cluding  a  synagogue  and  customhouse,  are  not  so  easily 
transported.  The  excavations  of  the  English  Explora- 

*  Matt.  8  :  28-34 ;  Mark  5  :  1-17  ;  Luke  8  :  26-37.  The  Greek  man¬ 
uscripts  vary  between  Gadareiies,  Gej'asenes,  and  Gergesenes.  The  common 
view  locates  the  scene  at  Gadara  (now  called  “Omkeis,”  or  “Um  Keis  ”), 
which  was  the  capital  of  Pera;a,  and  probably  inhabited  by  heathen.  But 
this  lies  two  hours  southeast  of  the  southern  end  of  the  lake,  too  far  to 
account  for  the  simultaneous  and  direct  rush  of  the  herd  into  the  lake. 
In  this  case  topographical  discovery  may  aid  in  determining  the  true 
reading. 


348 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


tion  Fund  in  1866  brought  nothing  to  light  except  some 
fragments  of  comparatively  modern  masonry  and  pottery. 
Lieut.  Kitchener  and  Dr.  Merrill  claim  to  have  seen  more 
important  remains  in  1877,  but  we  must  wait  for  a  more 
thorough  search.  In  the  evening  we  take  a  refreshing 
bath  in  the  lake  near  the  Fountain  of  the  Fig-tree. 

From  Khan  Minyeh  we  pass  through  the  remains  of 
an  aqueduct  cut  through  the  cliff  along  the  shore,  and 
now  used  as  a  horse-path,  to  Et-Tabighah,  and  thence  to 
Tell-Hum  and  Kerazeh.  Here  every  step  is  full  of  inter¬ 
est  to  the  Biblical  student. 

Et-Tabighah  is  a  charming  little  bay  and  a  tract  of 
land  abounding  in  fresh  streams  and  fountains  and  rank 
vegetation.  The  largest  of  the  fountains,  probably  the 
fountain  of  Capharnaum  mentioned  by  Josephus  as  water¬ 
ing  the  plain  of  Gennesaret,  is  half  as  large  as  the  source 
of  the  Jordan  at  Banias,  and  rises  with  great  force  to  the 
surface,  at  a  temperature  of  86|° ;  it  is  enclosed  in  an  oc¬ 
tagonal  reservoir,  and  some  of  its  water  is  carried  off  in  an 
aqueduct  to  one  of  five  mills  which  were  built  by  Dhaher 
el  Omer,  a  Bedawin  chief  and  benefactor.  “  Connected 
with  this  fountain  are  the  remains  of  some  remarkable 
works,  which  at  one  time  raised  its  waters  to  a  high  level 
and  conveyed  them  bodily  into  the  plain  of  Gennesaret 
for  the  purposes  of  irrigation.”*  Some  identify  Et-Ta¬ 
bighah  with  Western  Bethsaida,  but  it  was  probably  the 
manufacturing  suburb  and  harbor  of  Capernaum. 

We  next  reach  Tell  Hum,  i.  e.,  the  Hill  of  Nahum.  Its 
name  and  ruins  form  a  strong  double  argument  for  its  iden- 
*  Captain  Wilson. 


CAPERNAUM,  ETC. 


349 


tity  with  ancient  Capernaum.*  It  lies  on  elevated  rocky 
ground  half  a  mile  west  of  the  lake  shore,  about  midway 
between  Khan  Minyeh  and  the  mouth  of  the  Jordan  at 
its  entrance  into  the  lake.  There  is  not  even  a  horse¬ 
path  leading  to  it,  and  we  must  force  our  way  for  half  an 
hour  through  dense  tangles  of  tall  briers  and  thistles. 
The  ruins  which  have  been  described  by  Dr.  Robinson, 
and  more  fully  from  careful  examination  (in  1866)  by 
Captain  Wilson,!  are  certainly  the  most  remarkable  in 
that  whole  region,  and  betray  the  presence  of  a  large 
town.  They  cover  a  tract  of  about  half  a  mile  long  and 
a  quarter  broad,  and  lie  in  confusion  beneath  the  surface 
of  the  soil.  They  consist  of  foundations  and  walls  of 
houses,  and  the  broken  columns,  Corinthian  capitals,  and 
friezes  of  a  synagogue  built  of  white  limestone,  and  hence 
called  “  the  white  synagogue.”  On  a  large  block  is  a  pot 
of  manna  engraved  in  commemoration  of  the  manna  in 
the  wilderness,  which  typified  the  true  manna  from  heav¬ 
en.  If  Tell  Hum  be  Capernaum,  as  we  are  strongly  in¬ 
clined  to  believe,  then  this  synagogue  must  have  been  the 
same  which  the  good  Roman  centurion  built,!  and  in 
which  our  Lord  frequently  taught,  and  delivered  his  won¬ 
derful  discourse  on  the  bread  of  life.§ 

*  The  Greek  Ka<l>apvaovfi  corresponds  to  the  Hebrew  df-|j 
village  of  Nahum  (not  the  village  of  Consolation,  TrapaKlrjaeup,  as 

Origen  and  Jerome  explain  it).  Kefr,  or  Kafr,  means  a  village,  and  when 
destroyed  it  becomes  a  Tell,  i.  e.,  a  hill  or  mound  of  stone  and  rubbish. 
The  Jews  locate  at  Tell  Hum  both  the  tomb  of  the  prophet  Nahum  and 
that  of  Rabbi  Tanchum. 

t  The  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  26S. 

J  Luke  7  : 18  ;  Matt.  8  :  8. 

§  Mark  i ;  2i ;  Luke  4  :  33,  38 ;  John  6  :  59. 

30 


Bible  Lands. 


350 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Kerazeh  is  one  hour’s  journey  (two  miles)  north  of 
Tell  Hum,  and  equals  it  in  the  extent  of  ruins.  They 
comprise  the  remains  of  a  synagogue  of  black  basalt  with 
Corinthian  capitals,  and  dwellinghouses  in  a  tolerably 
perfect  state,  the  walls  being  in  some  cases  six  feet  high. 
Captain  Wilson  discovered  also  traces  of  a  paved  road, 
which  connected  the  place  with  the  great  caravan  road 
to  Damascus.*  If  Tell  Hum  be  Capernaum,  then  Kera¬ 
zeh  must  be  the  ancient  Chorazin.  Both  the  name  and 
the  ruins  favor  this  view. 

We  return  to  our  tent  in  Khan  Minyeh  with  an  over¬ 
whelming  sense  of  the  contrast  between  the  past  and  the 
present,  and  the  fearful  guilt  of  neglecting  the  day  of 
merciful  visitation. 

Note. — We  cannot  close  this  chapter  without  some  additional 
remarks  on  the  hotly-contested  question  of  the  site  of  Capernaum. 
We  have  been  strongly  impressed  on  the  spot  in  favor  of  the  iden¬ 
tity  of  Tell  Hum  with  Capernaum,  and  of  Kerazeh  with  Chorazin; 
yet  we  would  hold  ourselves  open  to  new  light  which  a  more  thor¬ 
ough  exploration  by  means  of  excavations  may  throw  on  the  prob¬ 
lem.! 

Biblical  archeologists  and  commentators  are  almost  equally 
divided  between  Khan  Minyeh  and  Tell  Hum  as  the  two  chief 
claimants  to  the  site  of  Capernaum. |  A  third  theory,  which  locates 

*  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  270. 

t  The  English  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  proposes  to  send  out  a 
special  expedition  to  Galilee  to  determine  the  site  of  Capernaum,  Beth- 
saida,  and  Chorazin. 

f  For  Khan  Minyeh  are  Quaresmius  (1639),  Robinson  (1838),  Mac- 
gregor  (reasoning  at  length  from  a  sailor’s  standpoint,  1869),  Porter  {1875), 
Sepp,  and  quite  recently  Lieutenant  Kitchener,  of  the  English  Exploration 
Fund,  and  Dr.  Selah  Merrill,  of  the  American  Exploration  Society  (1877). 
Among  scholars  who  never  visited  Palestine,  Keim,  in  his  Geschichte  Jesu 
von  Nazara,  vol.  I.,  pp.  607,  seq.,  strongly  pleads  for  Khan  Minyeh.  For 


CAPERNAUM,  ETC. 


351 


it  at  ’Ain  Mudawarah,  or  the  Round  Fountain,  near  the  south  end 
of  the  Plain  of  Gennesaret,  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  lake,  has 
been  given  up  again  by  its  chief  advocate.* 

The  following  are  the  points  to  be  considered  in  this  contro¬ 
versy  ; 

I.  The  Biblical  argument  turns  chiefly  on  the  question  whether 
the  Evangelists  locate  Capernaum  in  the  plain  of  Gennesaret,  in 
which  case  it  must  have  been  in  the  neighborhood  of  Khan  Minyeh, 
the  northern  end  of  that  plain,  assuming  its  identity  with  the  pres¬ 
ent  El-Ghuweir.  This  is  nowhere  expressly  stated,  but  it  is  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  Capernaum  lay  on  the  seashore  (Matt.  4:13),  and 
that  Jesus,  after  the  miraculous  feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  which 
occurred  in  a  desert  place  near  the  northeastern  extremity  of  the  lake, 
and  after  the  storm  on  the  lake,  landed  in  Gennesaret  (Matt.  14:34; 
Mark  6:  S3)  ;t  while  John  says  more  specifically  that  he  came  to 
Capernauin  (6:17,  24,  59).  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  stated  that, 
before  the  miracle,  the  people,  starting  from  Capernaum  and  other 
towns,  reached  the  desert  place  on  the  opposite  shore  sooner  by 
land  than  Jesus  and  his  disciples  by  sea  (Mark  6:33),  which  was 
quite  possible  if  they  came  from  the  nearer  Tell  Hum,  but  is  diffi¬ 
cult  to  explain  if  they  started  from  Khan  Minyeh,  two  or  three 
miles  farther  south.  It  seems,  then,  that  Jesus,  early  in  the  morn¬ 
ing  after  the  miracle,  arrived  at  Gennesaret  (Matthew  and  Mark) 
and  then  proceeded  to  his  proper  home  in  Capernaum  (John),  where 
the  returning  multitude  naturally  sought  him,  and  where  he  explain^ 
ed  in  the  synagogue  the  spiritual  meaning  of  the  miracle  of  the 
loaves  and  fishes.  Mark’s  account  (6 :  56)  suggests  that  our  Lord 
passed  through  several  places  in  Gennesaret  on  his  way  to  Caper¬ 
naum. 

Tell  Hum  are  Pococke  (1737),  Burckhardt,  Ritter,  John  Wilson,  Thom¬ 
son,  Hepvvorth  Dixon,  Renan,  Captain  Wilson,  Stanley  (in  Preface  to  The 
Recmiery  of  yeriisaletn,  1871),  Furrer,  Badeker,  and  among  commentators 
Ebrard,  Ewald,  and  Plumptre.  Alford,  Meyer,  and  Lange  are  undecided, 
but  lean  to  Tell  Hum. 

*  Canon  Tristram.  See  his  Bible  Places,  new  ed.  (1875),  P- 

t  The  best  authorities  in  Matthew  read,  “they  came  to  the  land  unto 
Gennesaret ”  (instead  of  “into  the  land  of  Gennesaret ’’),  and  in  Mark, 
“passing  over  to  the  land,  they  came  to  Gennesaret  and  moored  there,” 
i.  e.,  came  to  anchor. 


352 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


2.  Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian  of  the  apostolic  age,  who  was 
very  familiar  with  Galilee,  decidedly  favors  the  Tell  Hum  theory  in 
the  only  two  places  where  he  alludes  specifically  to  the  place.  He 
relates  in  his  Life  that,  having  been  bruised  by  a  fall  from  his 
horse  at  the  mouth  of  the  Jordan,  he  was  first  brought  to  the  village 
“  Kepharnome,”* * * §  and  thence  in  the  same  night  removed  to  Tarichem, 
at  the  southern  end  of  the  lake.  Now  it  is  much  more  natural  to  sup¬ 
pose  that  in  his  disabled  condition  he  should  have  stopped  at  the  near¬ 
est  inhabited  place,  which  was  Tell  Hum,  than  in  the  more  distant 
Khan  Minyeh.  In  his  History  of  the  Jewish  War  he  speaks  of  a 
copious  spring  of  “  Kapharnaum”  which  watered  the  Plain  of  Gen- 
nesaret  and  abounded  in  lake-fish. f  This  is  undoubtedly  the  ’Ain 
Tabighah,  near  Tell  Hum;  for  it  is  very  copious,  abounds  in  fish, 
including  the  coracinus  mentioned  by  Josephus,  and  is  surrounded 
by  tanks  and  the  ruins  of  an  aqueduct  through  which  the  water  was 
carried  down  along  the  hillside  on  the  shore  to  the  northern  head 
of  the  plain  of  Gennesaret.J  Dr.  Robinson  (though  evidently  with 
some  misgiving)  sought  the  spring  of  Josephus  in  the  Fountain  of 
the  Fig-tree  (’Ain  et  Tin)  on  the  shore  below  Khan  Minyeh ;  but 
this  has  no  fish  and  is  too  small,  and  lies  too  low  to  be  made  avail¬ 
able  for  irrigating  the  plain.  Tristram  formerly  sought  the  spring 
of  Josephus  in  ’Ain  Mudawarah,  the  Round  Fountain,  which  is  very 
abundant  and  helps  to  water  the  southern  part  of  the  plain,  but  is 
too  far  off  from  the  lake. 

3.  The  Jewish  and  Arab  tradition  points  invariably  to  Tell 
Hum.§ 

4.  The  ecclesiastical  tradition,  otherwise  so  busy  in  fixing  sa¬ 
cred  localities,  is  here  vague,  uncertain,  and  contradictory. 

5.  The  geographical  argument  is  rather  in  favor  of  Khan  Min¬ 
yeh,  as  being  close  by  the  seashore  and  admirably  located  for  a 
commercial  town  and  custom-station  on  the  present  highroad  to 
Damascus ;  but  this  is  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  archceo- 

*  Vita,  §  72  :  dq  Ktjiirjv  Keifiapvuiirjv  ?i,eyovjj£V7]v.  It  is  the  Greek  form 
of  the  name. 

t  Belt  Jud.,  III.  10,  8.  _ 

j  See  Captain  Wilson,  in  The  Recovery  of  Jertisalem,  p.  271,  and  Tris¬ 
tram,  Bible  Places,  p.  264.  ' 

§  See  Furrer,  art.  Kapernaiim  in  SchenkeTs  Bibel  Lexicon,  Vol.  III., 
p.  495,  and  Thomson,  I.,  p.  546. 


CAPERNAUM,  ETC. 


353 


logical  argument,  namely :  the  absence  of  ruins  in  Khan  Minyeh 
and  the  presence  of  large  ruins  at  Tell  Hum,  which  has  the  addi¬ 
tional  advantage  of  the  identity  of  name,  and  was  likewise  connect¬ 
ed  by  roads  with  Chorazin  and  Damascus. 

The  site  of  Bethsaida  and  Chorazin  is  somewhat  dependent  on 
that  of  Capernaum,  but  not  altogether. 

The  advocates  of  Khan  Minyeh  usually  identify  Bethsaida 
with  Et-Tabighah,  and  Chorazin  with  Tell  Hum.  But  what  be¬ 
comes,  then,  of  the  ruins  of  Kerazeh.?  They  cannot  be  ignored, 
and  form  a  strong  objection  to  this  view.  Others  locate  Bethsaida 
at  Khan  Minyeh.  If  we  must  distinguish  two  Bethsaidas,  we  would 
rather  locate  the  western  Bethsaida  at  Et-Tabighah,  and  Caperna¬ 
um  at  Tell  Hum. 

But  the  whole  assumption  of  two  distinct  Bethsaidas  in  close 
neighborhood  is  very  questionable.  It  is  much  more  probable,  as 
already  intimated,  that  they  were  but  parts  of  one  and  the  same 
town  on  both  banks  of  the  Jordan  near  its  entrance  into  the  lake, 
the  eastern  part  in  Gaulanitis  being  called  Bethsaida  Jtilias,  the 
western  part  in  Galilee  being  called  Bethsaida  of  Galilee.*  About 
the  site  of  the  former  there  is  no  dispute.  Philip  the  Tetrarch  en¬ 
larged  and  beautified  it  and  called  it  Julias  in  honor  of  the  prin¬ 
cess  Julia,  the  daughter  of  Augustus,  about  the  same  time  when  his 
brother,  Herod  the  younger,  built  Tiberias,  and  named  it  so  after 
the  emperor  Tiberius.  A  few  ruins  still  remain  of  eastern  Beth¬ 
saida,  where  Philip  died  and  was  buried  in  a  costly  tomb.  The 
Evangelists  mean  always  the  western  Bethsaida  of  Galilee,  which, 
as  the  home  of  some  of  the  chief  apostles,  was  of  far  more  conse¬ 
quence  to  them  and  to  the  world  than  the  other. 

Returning  to  the  woe  of  our  Saviour  over  these  three  cities, 
we  suppose  that  they  are  mentioned  in  the  order  of  their  guilt, 
Chorazin  being  named  first  and  Capernaum  last  and  with  the 
greatest  severity.  That  woe  will  ever  be  fulfilled,  according  to  the 
measure  of  privilege  and  guilt,  on  all  those  who  turn  a  deaf  ear  to 
the  teaching  of  the  Son  of  God ;  while  on  the  other  hand,  his  words 

*  John  12  :  21  :  “Philip  who  was  of  Bethsaida  of  Galilee  compare 
I  :  44  :  “Now  Philip  was  of  Bethsaida,  the  city  of  Andrew  and  Peter.”  In 
all  other  places  it  is  simply  called  Bethsaida,  as  Mark  6:45;  S  :  2?  j  Luke 
9: 10.  Comp.  Thomson,  The  Larid  and  the  Book,  IT.,  31. 


354 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


of  wisdom  spoken  in  those  places,  wherever  they  were,  will  continue 
to  guide  the  Church  in  the  way  of  life.  His  “  Peace,  be  still !”  will 
calm  many  a  storm;  his  “  Lovest  thou  me?”  will  search  many  a 
heart ;  and  his  “  Follow  thou  me  !”  will  be  obeyed  by  many  a  dis¬ 
ciple  even  to  a  martyr’s  death. 

“  No  fable  old,  no  mythic  lore. 

Nor  dream  of  bards  and  seers. 

No  dead  fact  stranded  on  the  shore 
Of  the  oblivious  years  ; 

But  warm,  sweet,  tender  even  yet 
A  present  help  is  He ; 

And  faith  hath  still  its  Olivet, 

And  love  its  Galilee.” 


C^SAR^A  PHILIPPI. 


355 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

CH-SARyEA  PHILIPPI. 

From  Khan  Minyeh  to  Banias — The  Waters  of  Me- 
rom  —  Dan — Cassarsea  Philippi  —  Beautiful  Sce¬ 
nery — The  Source  of  the  Jordan — Peter’s  Confes¬ 
sion — The  Rock  of  Ages — The  Ruins  of  the  Castle 
of  Shubeibeh. 

“  When  Jesus  came  into  the  parts  of  Csesarea  Philippi,  he  asked 
his  disciples,  saying.  Who  do  men  say  that  the  Son  of  man  is  ? 
And  they  said.  Some  say,  John  the  Baptist:  some,  Elijah  ;  and  oth¬ 
ers,  Jeremiah,  or  one  of  the  prophets.  He  saith  unto  them.  But 
who  say  ye  that  I  am?  And  Simon  Peter  answered  and  said.  Thou 
art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  And  Jesus  answered 
and  said  unto  him.  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-jona:  for  flesh  and 
blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  which  is  in 
heaven.  And  I  also  say  unto  thee,  that  thou  art  Peter  (Petros), 
and  upon  this  Rock  (Petra)  I  will  build  my  church ;  and  the  gates 
of  Hades  shall  not  prevail  against  it.”  Matt.  i6;  i3-i8. 

From  Khan  Minyeh  we  travel  in  two  days  to  Banias, 
stopping  over  night  at  ’Ain  Mellahah,  which  abounds  in 
fresh  water  and  vegetation.  We  were  unable  to  visit 
Safed,  which  has  no  Biblical  interest,  but  is  one  of  the 
four  sacred  cities  of  the  rabbinical  Jews.  It  was  visited 
by  a  fearful  earthquake,  January  i,  1837,  which  is  best 
described  by  Dr.  Thomson,  who  visited  the  scene  of 
destruction  a  few  days  after  the  calamity.* 

*  The  Land  and  the  Book,  I.  427-432. 


356 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


We  pass  over  the  rough  remains  of  an  old  Roman 
caravan  road  from  Egypt  to  Damascus,  take  a  last  look 
at  the  shores  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee,  and  turn  our  eyes 
towards  the  mountains  of  Lebanon. 

On  the  second  day  we  come  in  sight  of  the  Waters 
OF  Merom,  now  called  Lake  Huleh,  which  has  been 
fully  explored  and  described  by  Rob  Roy.  It  is  a  trian¬ 
gular  sheet  of  water,  about  four  miles  long  and  three  and 
a  half  miles  broad,  the  apex  being  towards  the  south, 
where  the  Jordan  issues  from  it.  With  the  exception  of 
the  lake  Phiala  (Birket  er-Ram),  which  has  no  outlet  or 
inlet,  it  is  the  smallest  of  the  lakes  of  Palestine,  which 
increase  in  size  from  north  to  south.  Near  the  waters 
of  Merom  Joshua  utterly  defeated  King  Hazor  and  his 
confederate  kings,  who  assembled  to  attack  him  with  a 
vast  multitude,  with  horses  and  chariots.*  It  was  the 
third  and  last  decisive  victory  over  the  heathen  Canaan- 
ites,  and  secured  Galilee  to  Israel.  Our  attention  is 
arrested  by  a  caravan  of  fifty  camels  on  their  way  from 
Damascus  to  Jerusalem,  and  by  a  Redawin  village  of 
black  tents,  exhibiting  the  strange  life  of  these  wild  chil¬ 
dren  of  nature. 

The  second  place  of  interest  is  Dan  and  the  lower 
source  of  the  Jordan.  Scarcely  any  ruins  mark  the  place, 
but  it  still  lives  in  the  Arab  name,  Tell  el  Kady,  i.  e., 
the  Hill  of  the  Judge.f  We  rest  there  an  hour  under  a 
majestic  oak,  which  has  been  compared  to  the  venerable 

*  Josh.  II  ;  1-14. 

t  Kady  corresponds  to  the  Hebrew  Dan,  and  to  the  former  Phoenician 
name  I,aisli.  Judg.  18  :  29. 


Cy^SARyEA  PHILIPPI. 


357 


oak  of  Mamre  at  Hebron,  and  listen  to  the  murmur  of 
the  famous  river  as  it  pours  its  fresh  and  abundant  waters 
through  jungles  of  rank  vegetation  down  to  the  rich  plain 
of  Huleh.  Dan  is  the  northern  boundary,  as  Beersheba 
the  southern  boundary,  of  Palestine  proper  ;  hence  the 
proverbial  expression,  “from  Dan  even  to  Beersheba,” 
which  from  the  time  of  the  Judges  has  been  in  use  to 
this  day,  both  in  its  literal  and  figurative  sense.* 

A  delightful  ride  of  an  hour  over  a  “  park-like  ver¬ 
dure,  which  casts  a  strangely  beautiful  interest  over  this 
last  recess  of  Palestine,”  brings  us  to  Banias  or  C^esa- 
RyEA  Philippi.  This  is  the  best  camping  station  before 
crossing  the  Hermon  to  Damascus.  It  is  the  most 
charming  landscape  in  all  Palestine,  adorned  with  tropi¬ 
cal  vegetation  of  flowers  and  trees,  and  musical  with  the 
murmur  of  rivulets  and  cascades.  It  lies  at  the  foot  of 
the  monarch  of  Syrian  mountains,  which  is  seated 

“  On  a  throne  of  rocks  in  a  robe  of  clouds, 

With  a  diadem  of  snow.” 

Stanley  calls  Banias,  for  its  situation,  its  exuberance  of 
water,  its  olive  groves,  and  its  view  over  the  distant  plain, 
“  a  Syrian  Tivoli.”  Here  is  the  most  picturesque  of  the 
three  sources  of  the  Jordan.  Here  that  sacred  stream 
gushes  forth  from  the  limestone  rocks  under  an  over¬ 
hanging  cliff  in  several  streams  of  clear,  sparkling  water, 
to  unite  four  miles  below  with  the  source  at  Dan,  and, 
after  passing  two  lakes  and  the  whole  land  of  Palestine, 
to  find  its  grave  in  the  Dead  Sea — a  type  of  our  human 
life,  from  the  fresh  hopes  and  aspirations,  of  childhood 

*  Judg.  20 :  I ;  I  Sam.  3:20;  2  Sam.  3:10;  17:11. 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


35^5 

and  youth,  through  the  bustling  scenes,  rapids,  and  wind¬ 
ings  of  manhood,  to  its  termination  in  the  mystery  of 
death,  yet  with  pledges  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  of 
regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  a  resurrection  to 
life  everlasting. 

Banias  blends  the  memories  of  many  centuries  and 
several  religions.  It  is  the  northernmost  boundary  of 
Palestine,  and  the  dividing  line  between  the  land  of  Israel 
and  the  region  of  the  Gentiles.  It  is  probably  the  same 
with  Baal-Gad,  included  in  Joshua’s  victories,  who  “took 
all  the  land,  even  from  the  Mount  of  Halak  that  goeth  up 
to  Seir,  even  unto  Baal-Gad  in  the  valley  of  Lebanon 
under  Mount  Hermon.”*  It  has  its  ancient  Greek  and 
modern  Arabic  name  from  a  sanctuary  of  Pan  (Paneion, 
Paneas),  which  still  survives  in  a  large  cave  with  several 
votive  niches  in  the  rocks.  Philip  the  Tetrarch  beautified 
it  with  temples,  villas,  and  palaces,  and  called  it  “  Caesa- 
raea  Philippi  ”  in  honor  of  Caesar  Augustus  and  in  dis¬ 
tinction  from  Caesaraea  on  the  Mediterranean,  where 
Paul  spent  two  years  in  prison.  Under  this  Herodian 
Roman  designation  it  appears  in  the  New  Testament, 
but  it  was  afterwards  changed  into  Caesaraea  Paneas,  and 
back  again  into  Banias. 

The  chief  interest  of  the  place  is  derived  from  the 
visit  of  our  Lord,  the  confession  of  Peter,  the  prophecy 
concerning  the  Church,  and  the  scene  of  transfiguration 
which  took  place  six  days  afterwards,  probably  on  Mount 
llermon.f  It  was  in  view  of  the  fountain  of  the  Jordan 

■*  Josh.  II  ;  17  ;  comp.  12:7  ;  13:5. 

t  See  Chap.  XXXIII. 


C^SAR^A  PHILIPPI. 


359 


and  of  the  immovable  rocks  of  Mount  Hermon,  it  was 
on  this  boundary  line  between  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles, 
that  our  Lord  elicited  the  fundamental  confession  of  the 
Christian  faith,  and  announced  the  building  of  his  Church 
universal,  against  which  the  gates  of  Hades  shall  never 
prevail.  His  word  to  Peter  is  the  exegetical  rock  of  the 
papacy,  and  has  been  more  frequently  quoted  by  popes, 
from  Leo  1.  to  Leo  XIIL,  than  any  other  passage  of  the 
Bible  ;  but  they  forget  that  soon  afterwards  Christ  called 
him  “  Satan”  for  minding  “not  the  things  of  God  but  the 
things  of  men.”*  Peter  still  entertained  at  that  time  car¬ 
nal  views  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  if  it  were  a  kingdom 
of  this  world.  And  what  is  the  papacy  but  a  carnal 
anticipation  of  the  kingdom  of  glory,  when  Christ  shall 
rule  King  of  nations  as  he  now  rules  King  of  saints  in 
his  Church  ?  It  is  very  significant  that  Mark,  who  wrote 
under  the  inspiration  of  Peter,  omitted  the  praise,  but 
recorded  the  censure ;  and  that  Peter  himself  in  his  first 
Epistle,  as  in  prophetic  foresight  of  the  abuse  of  that  pas¬ 
sage  by  his  would-be  successors,  warns  more  earnestly 
than  any  other  apostle  against  hierarchical  pride  and 
assumption.  The  eternal  divinity  of  our  Lord,  as  con¬ 
fessed  by  Peter  in  the  name  of  the  other  apostles  and  of 
the  whole  company  of  the  faithful,  is  the  immovable  rock 
of  ages  on  which  the  Church  is  built. 

The  modern  Arab  village  of  Banias  has  about  fifty  or 
sixty  houses,  built  in  part  from  old  Roman  ruins.  A 
rough  bridge  of  antique  pillars  leads  over  the  Jordan. 
The  Moslem  inhabitants  have  a  bad  reputation  ;  two  par- 

*  Matt.  l6  :  23. 


360 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


ties  of  tourists,  one  preceding  and  one  following  us,  were 
robbed  of  watches  and  other  valuables. 

We  must  not  omit  to  ascend  to  the  Castle  of  Shu- 
BEiBEH  on  the  hill  a  little  more  than  an  hour  from  the 
village.  It  is  the  most  extensive  architectural  ruin  in  Pal¬ 
estine,  as  large  as  the  Castle  of  Heidelberg,  and  affords 
a  magnificent  view  over  the  town,  the  hills  of  Bashan  and 
Galilee,  and  the  upper  valley  of  the  Jordan.  Its  origin 
and  early  history  are  unknown.  It  seems  to  combine 
Phoenician,  Roman,  and  Saracenic  architecture.  It  was 
taken  and  retaken  during  the  Crusades.  The  Arab  in¬ 
scriptions  are  from  the  thirteenth  century. 


DAMASCUS. 


DAMASCUS. 


361 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

DAMASCUS. 

Approach  to  Damascus — The  Conversion  of  Paul 
and  his  wonderful  Character — The  Street  called 
Straight— Other  Reminiscences— The  Beauty  and 
Fertility  of  Damascus— The  Inside  of  the  City— 
The  House  of  a  Jewish  Banker  —  The  Slave- 
Market — The  Great  Mosque — Mohammedan  Fa¬ 
naticism— The  Massacre  of  1860  and  its  Result 
— Abd  el  Kader— Protestant  Missions  in  Damas¬ 
cus. 

“  I  verily  thought  with  myself,  that  I  ought  to  do  many  things 
contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  And  this  I  also  did 
in  Jerusalem :  and  many  of  the  saints  did  I  shut  up  in  prison,  hav¬ 
ing  received  authority  from  the  chief  priests  ;  and  when  they  were 
put  to  death,  I  gave  my  voice  against  them.  And  I  punished  them 
oft  in  every  synagogue,  and  compelled  them  to  blaspheme ;  and  be¬ 
ing  exceedingly  mad  against  them,  I  persecuted  them  even  unto 
foreign  cities.  Whereupon  as  I  went  to  Damascus  with  authority 
and  commission  from  the  chief  priests,  at  midday,  O  king,  I  saw 
on  the  way  a  light  from  heaven,  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun, 
shining  round  about  me  and  them  that  journeyed  with  me.  And 
when  we  were  all  fallen  to  the  earth,  I  heard  a  voice  speaking  unto 
m«,  and  saying  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest 
thou  me  ?  it  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the  pricks.  And  I  said. 
Who  art  thou.  Lord  ?  And  he  said,  I  am  Jesus  whom  thou  perse¬ 
cutest.  But  rise,  and  stand  upon  thy  feet :  for  I  have  appeared 
unto  thee  for  this  purpose,  to  make  thee  a  minister  and  a  witness 
both  of  these  things  which  thou  hast  seen,  and  of  those  things  in 
which  I  will  appear  unto  thee ;  delivering  thee  from  the  people, 
and  from  the  Gentiles,  unto  whom  now  I  send  thee,  to  open  their 
eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power 
of  Satan  unto  God,  that  they  may  receive  forgiveness  of  sins,  and 
inheritance  among  them  that  are  sanctified  by  faith  that  is  in  me. 

31 


Bible  Lands. 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


362 

Whereupon,  O  king  Agrippa,  I  was  not  disobedient  unto  the  heav¬ 
enly  vision  :  but  showed  first  unto  them  of  Damascus,  and  at  Jeru¬ 
salem,  and  throughout  all  the  country  of  Judaea,  and  then  to  the 
Gentiles,  that  they  should  repent  and  turn  to  God,  doing  works 
worthy  of  repentance.”  Acts  26  :  9-20. 

Damascus  bursts  upon  the  traveller  from  the  desert 
like  an  enchanting  vision.  It  is  an  Eden  of  life  and 
beauty  surrounded  by  death  and  desolation.  The  white 
city  is  a  diamond  set  in  the  dark  green  of  fruitful  gar¬ 
dens.  No  wonder  that  the  Mohammedans  regard  it  as 
the  earthly  reflection  of  Paradise. 

“  This  region  surely  is  not  of  the  earth  ; 

Was  it  not  dropped  from  heaven  ?” 

As  we  approach  this  remarkable  city,  the  uppermost 
thought  in  our  mind  is  the  conversion  of  St.  Paul,  the 
greatest  man  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  For  it  was 
near  Damascus,  as  he  came  from  Jerusalem  “  breathing 
out  threatenings  and  slaughter  against  the  disciples  of 
the  Lord,”  that  the  event  took  place  which  formed  a  turn¬ 
ing-point  not  only  in  his  own  life,  but  in  the  history  of 
the  world.  Here  the  most  dangerous  enemy  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  was  converted  into  its  most  powerful  promoter ; 
here  the  proud  rabbi  became  a  humble  pupil  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  the  zealot  for  the  law  a  herald  of  the  gospel, 
the  advocate  of  the  letter  that  killeth  a  preacher  of  the 
life-giving  spirit.  Laying  his  learning,  his  influence,  his 
prospects,  his  all,  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  he  went  forth, 
lonely  by  land  and  lonely  by  sea,  without  money,  without 
friends,  without  family,  but  with  the  irresistible  power  of 
a  sublime  faith  and  a  holy  life,  sailing  serenely  like  the 


DAMASCUS. 


363 


sun  above  the  clouds  of  trial  and  persecution,  one  against 
the  world  and  for  the  world,  a  conqueror  of  Jews  and 
Gentiles,  of  Greeks  and  barbarians,  turning  them  from 
the  service  of  sin  to  the  service  of  the  living  God.  “In 
journeyings  often,  in  perils  of  water,  in  perils  of  rob¬ 
bers,  in  perils  by  his  own  countrymen,  in  perils  by  the 
heathen,  in  perils  in  the  city,  in  perils  in  the  wilderness, 
in  perils  in  the  sea,  in  perils  among  false  brethren  ;  in 
weariness  and  painfulness,  in  watchings  often,  in  hunger 
and  thirst,  in  fastings  often,  in  cold  and  nakedness 
with  “  the  care  of  all  the  churches  ”  resting  upon  his 
sympathizing  heart ;  “  troubled  on  every  side,  yet  not 
distressed ;  perplexed,  but  not  in  despair ;  persecuted, 
but  not  forsaken  ;  cast  down,  but  not  destroyed ;  always 
bearing  about  in  the  body  the  dying  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
satisfied  with  the  all-sufficient  grace  of  God,  his  “strength 
being  made  perfect  in  weakness,”  he  fought  “  the  good 
fight,”  he  “finished  his  course,”  he  “kept  the  faith,”  and 
carried  away  the  unfading  “crown  of  righteousness.”*  Was 
there  ever  a  moral  hero  more  pure,  more  unselfish,  more 
devoted,  more  useful,  more  self-consistent,  from  his  con¬ 
version  in  Damascus  to  his  martyrdom  in  Rome  1  Next 
to  Christ  himself,  St.  Paul  is  perhaps  the  best  personal 
evidence  and  recommendation  of  the  religion  he  preach¬ 
ed.  His  character  and  conduct  are  fireproof  against 
every  assault,  while  his  Epistles  reveal  one  of  the  pro- 
foundest  and  clearest  thinkers  that  ever  lived.  The  most 
learned  of  modern  skeptics  (Dr.  Baur  of  Tubingen)  con¬ 
fessed  at  the  close  of  his  life  that  he  could  not  account 

*  2  Cor.  II  :  26-28  ;  4  :  8-10;  12  :  9,  10;  2  Tim.  6  :  7,  8. 


3^4 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


for  the  conversion  of  Paul  without  the  miracle  of  the 
resurrection.  A  most  significant  concession.  Here  the 
rationalistic,  the  mythical,  and  the  legendary  theories 
utterly  fail.  The  resurrection  and  personal  appearance 
of  Christ  are  the  only  rational  explanation  of  such  a  stub¬ 
born  fact  as  the  life  and  work  of  Paul,  and  his  ever-ex¬ 
panding  influence  on  the  history  of  mankind. 

An  old  tradition  locates  the  conversion  of  the  Jewish 
rabbi  at  a  distance  of  about  five  miles  from  the  city,*  at 
a  point  where  the  direct  road  from  Jerusalem  crosses  the 
one  from  Banias  and  Kefr  Hauwar,  near  an  oasis  and  a 
fountain,  in  view  of  the  minarets  of  the  city,  the  majestic 
Hermon,  and  the  bare  ridge  of  the  Antilebanon. 

In  the  city  itself  the  house  of  Ananias  and  the  house 
of  Judas  are  still  shown.  “  The  street  which  is  called 
Straight,”  where  Ananias  was  to  inquire  after  Saul  of 
Tarsus,  still  bears  that  name.  The  window  in  the  wall 
is  also  pointed  out  through  which  Paul  was  let  down  in 
a  basket.!  Considering  the  many  changes  which  Da¬ 
mascus  has  undergone,  it  is  of  course  impossible  to  rely 
on  these  traditions,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  the 
general  locality. 

The  memory  of  Naaman,  too,  is  perpetuated  on  the 


*  Dr.  J.  L.  Porter  says,  ten  miles  southwest  of  the  city,  near  a  vil¬ 
lage  called  Kaukab.  I  made  many  inquiries  on  the  spot,  but  the  infor¬ 
mation  was  vague  and  confused.  The  tradition  may  not  go  beyond  the 
time  of  the  Crusades,  and  has  of  course  no  critical  value. 

t  2  Cor.  II  :  32,  33:  “In  Damascus  the  governor  under  Aretas  the 
king  kept  the  city  of  the  Damascenes  with  a  garrison,  desirous  to  appre¬ 
hend  me:  and  through  a  window  in  a  basket  was  I  let  down  by  the  wall, 
and  escaped  his  hands.” 


DAMASCUS. 


365 


banks  of  the  Abana  in  a  leper  hospital  which  occupies 
the  site  of  his  house.  “  I  have  often  visited  it,”  says  Dr. 
Porter,*  “  and  when  looking  on  its  miserable  inmates  all 
disfigured  and  mutilated  by  their  loathsome  disease,  I 
could  not  wonder  that  the  heart  of  the  little  Jewish  cap¬ 
tive  was  moved  by  her  master’s  sufferings.” 

Damascus  is  perhajis  the  oldest  city  in  the  world,  and 
has  maintained  its  proud  position  as  “the  head  of  Syria”! 
through  the  horrors  of  pillage  and  conflagration  under 
Syrian,  Persian,  Greek,  Roman,  Arab,  and  Turkish  des¬ 
pots.  It  lay  within  the  land  of  promise,  which  in  its 
widest  sense  extended  “  from  the  river  of  Egypt  to  the 
river  Euphrates  and  David  subjected  it  to  his  sceptre, 
but  only  for  a  short  period. !  It  existed  already  nineteen 
hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era,  in  the  days  of 
Abraham,  whose  trusted  friend  Eliezer  hailed  from  there. § 
Josephus  traces  its  origin  to  Uz,  the  son  of  Aram,  and 
grandson  of  Shem. 

But  more  remarkable  than  even  its  age  is  the  beauty 
of  its  situation.  Damascus  is  called  by  its  own  poets 
“The  Pearl  of  the  East,”  and  “The  Eye  of  the  Desert.” 
It  answers  the  Koran’s  description  of  Paradise,  as  an 
orchard  bearing  delicious  fruit  ever  ready  to  drop  into 
the  mouth.  The  Damascenes  believe  that  the  Garden 
of  Eden  was  located  here,  and  that  the  clay  of  which 
Adam  was  formed  was  taken  from  the  banks  of  the  Aba- 

*  The  Giant  Cities  of  Bashan,  p.  344.  t  Isaiah  7  :8. 

t  Gen.  15  :  18  (but  comp.  Numb.  34 :  7,  8;  Josh.  13:5);  2  Sam.  8  :  5, 
6;  I  Chron.  18:6;  i  Kings  ii  :  24. 

§  Gen.  15:2;  compare  14:15. 

3D 


366 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


na.  Fifteen  miles  north  of  Damascus,  on  a  lofty  cliff, 
the  reputed  tomb  of  Abel,  which  measures  thirty  feet  in 
length,  is  shown  ! 

The  main  source  of  the  beauty  and  fertility  of  Da¬ 
mascus  is  the  Barada  (the  Amana  or  Abana  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures,  the  Chrysorrhoas  or  Gold  River  of  the  Greeks),  a 
broad  and  deep  stream  which  rushes  down  from  the  An- 
tilebanon  and  along  the  north  wall  of  the  city,  distributes 
its  blessings  through  innumerable  channels  to  the  gar¬ 
dens  and  houses,  and  then  hides  itself  in  a  desert  lake. 
It  is  the  life  of  Damascus,  as  the  desert  is  its  fortifica¬ 
tion.  Well  might  Naaman  the  Syrian  ask  the  messen¬ 
ger  of  Elisha,  “Are  not  Abana  (or  Amana)  and  Pharpar 
(A’waj),  rivers  of  Damascus,  beMer  than  all  the  waters  of 
Israel  ?  May  I  not  wash  in  them,  and  be  clean  ?”*  This 
river  of  life  calls  forth  a  luxuriant  vegetation  around  the 
city.  The  eye  feasts  upon  the  gardens  of  olives,  walnuts, 
apricots,  pomegranates,  poplars,  cypresses,  and  palms, 
arrayed  in  a  rich  variety  of  colors,  the  dark  green,  the 
purple  red,  the  silvery  white. 

The  best  view  in  the  city  itself  can  be  obtained  from 
the  minaret  of  the  Great  Mosque,  and  a  more  command¬ 
ing  one  from  the  barren  hill  Kasiun.  Here  Mohammed, 
then  a  mere  camel-driver  from  Mecca,  stood  in  amaze¬ 
ment  at  the  scene  below,  and  turning  away,  without  en¬ 
tering  the  city,  he  said,  “  Man  can  have  but  one  paradise, 
and  my  paradise  is  fixed  above !”  The  guide  of  the 
prophet  exclaimed,  “  Here  let  me  die  !”  A  mosque  called 
“  Kubbet  en-Niisr”  is  built  on  this  hill  in  memory  of  the 
*■  2  Kings  5:12. 


DAMASCUS. 


367 


visit  of  Mohammed,  and  contains  the  grave  of  his  guide. 
The  English  historian,  Henry  Thomas  Buckle,  who  died 
in  Damascus,  May  29,  1862,  said,  “This  is  indeed  worth 
all  the  toil  and  danger  it  has  cost  me  to  come  here.” 
Dean  Stanley  writes,  “  There  may  be  other  views  in  the 
world  more  beautiful ;  there  can  hardly  be  another  at 
once  so  beautiful  and  so  instructive.” 

But  the  inside  of  Damascus  is  anything  but  a  para¬ 
dise.  In  this  case  truly  “  distance  lends  enchantment  to 
the  view,”  while  “familiarity  breeds  contempt.”  The  city 
is  a  labyrinth  of  narrow,  crooked,  ill-paved,  dirty  streets, 
where  men,  camels,  donkeys,  and  dogs  are  crowding  each 
other  and  huddled  together  in  inextricable  confusion.  I 
saw  a  new-born  donkey  in  the  middle  of  the  street.  Car¬ 
avans  come  and  go  from  Bagdad  and  Mecca.  Merchants 
sit  and  smoke  and  sip  coffee  in  front  of  their  shops  and 
bazaars.  The  women,  veiled  all  over,  move  shyly  along 
like  ghosts,  wrapped  up  in  a  winding-sheet,  and  walking 
on  two  feet  encased  in  yellow  shoes.  The  miscellaneous 
mass  of  humanity  in  all  kinds  of  picturesque  costumes  is 
a  striking  and  interesting  sight,  though  it  has  lost  its 
novelty  to  one  coming  from  Cairo,  which,  as  a  city,  is 
more  cosmopolitan,  as  it  is  also  three  or  four  times  larger. 
The  bazaars  are  famous  for  their  treasures  of  silk,  car¬ 
pets,  saddles,  silver  and  gold  ornaments,  turbans,  slip¬ 
pers,  blades,  swords,  and  recall  the  words  of  Ezekiel  ad¬ 
dressed  to  Tyre :  “  Damascus  was  thy  merchant  in  the 
multitude  of  the  wares  of  thy  making,  for  the  multitude 
of  all  riches.”*  There  is  but  one  good  hotel  in  Damas- 
*  Ezekiel  27  :  18. 


368 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


cus,  once  kept  by  a  Greek,  Demetri,  now  by  his  widow, 
near  the  starting-place  of  the  French  diligence.  It  is  a 
thoroughly  Oriental  house,  with  a  refreshing  fountain, 
flowers,  lemon  and  orange  trees  in  the  marble-paved 
court,  and  is  visited  in  the  evening  by  venders  of  curios¬ 
ities,  among  whom  a  patriarchal-looking  crafty  Mussul¬ 
man  attracted  my  attention.  There  are  costly  houses  of 
rich  Moslems  and  Jews  in  Damascus,  but  the  outside 
is  very  forbidding,  and  you  have  to  enter  into  the  in¬ 
terior  court  through  a  dirty  lane,  sometimes  through  a 
stable. 

I  was  admitted  to  the  house  of  a  wealthy  Jewish 
banker,  who  takes  pleasure  in  showing  his  marble-paved 
court  and  fountain  and  his  luxuriously-furnished  rooms 
to  strangers.  When  I  read  and  translated  the  Hebrew 
inscription  on  the  door,  and  repeated  some  passages  from 
the  Hebrew  Psalter,  he  and  his  father  and  wife  were 
greatly  delighted,  and  showed  me  every  attention  ;  but 
when,  in  answer  to  a  question  on  the  Eastern  problem,  I 
said  that  my  sympathies  were  with  the  oppressed  Chris¬ 
tians,  his  countenance  fell,  and  he  exclaimed  piteously, 
“  And  such  Christians  !”  He  thought  that  the  Ameri¬ 
cans  ought  to  help  the  Jews  in  regaining  Palestine.  I 
replied  that  their  own  Rothschild  could  buy  the  whole 
country  and  not  feel  it.  I  learned  afterwards  that  he 
lent  the  Turkish  government  ;^40,ooo,  but  can  get  no 
interest,  and  will  never  see  the  principal. 

A  painfully  interesting  sight  is  the  slave-market  in 
an  old  khan;  I  saw,  however,  only  one  Nubian  slave- 
woman,  shut  up  in  a  dark  room  and  apparently  anxious 


DAMASCUS. 


3(^9 


that  we  should  buy  her.  Slavery  and  polygamy  are  twin 
children  of  barbarism,  and  Mohammedanism  has  neither 
the  power  nor  the  disposition  to  abolish  them. 

Damascus  is  said  to  contain  248  mosques  and  Mos¬ 
lem  schools.  By  far  the  most  interesting  is  the  Great 
Mosque,  one  of  the  four  chief  sanctuaries  of  Islam, 
next  to  those  of  Mecca,  Medina,  and  Jerusalem.  It 
was  first  a  temple  of  Jupiter,  then  a  Christian  basilica 
dedicated  to  John  the  Baptist.  It  is  said  to  contain  his 
head,  and  also  the  tomb  of  Saladin  in  strange  combina¬ 
tion.  It  is  a  very  imposing  building,  but  poorly  kept  and 
inferior  in  beauty  to  the  new  Mosque  of  Mohammed  Ali 
in  Cairo.  One  of  its  four  minarets  is  called  Minaret  of 
Isa  (lesus),  and  is  believed  to  be  the  spot  from  which 
Christ  will  judge  the  world.  The  Arab  historian  of  Da¬ 
mascus,  Ibn  Asaker,  says,  “When  Jesus  comes  to  judge 
the  world,  he  will  descend  here  and  assemble  in  the 
mosque  Moslems,  Christians,  and  Jews.  Then  the  names 
of  the  believers  will  be  read  from  the  great  book  of  God, 
and  the  Christians  and  Jews  will  learn  to  their  amaze¬ 
ment  that  only  Moslems  are  inscribed  in  the  book  of 
life.”  But  the  same  event  is  also  to  take  place,  accord¬ 
ing  to  another  Mohammedan  tradition,  from  the  temple 
area  in  Jerusalem  over  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  where 
all  mankind  shall  be  assembled  before  Jesus  and  Moham¬ 
med.  This  tribute  to  the  dignity  of  Christ  is  remarkable. 

Another  curious  fact  is  that  on  the  outside  of  a  wall 
of  the  Great  Mosque  still  stands  over  an  ancient  arch 
the  inscription  in  large  Greek  letters:  “Thy  kingdom, 
O  Christ,  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  Thy  dominion 


370 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


endureth  throughout  all  generations.”*  The  inscription 
is  a  standing  protest  against  Mohammedan  usurpation 
and  a  prophecy  of  the  ultimate  destiny  of  the  building. 
It  is,  however,  not  easy  of  access.  We  had  to  reach  it 
over  the  Silversmith’s  Bazaar  by  means  of  a  ladder,  and 
had  to  pay  extra  backsheesh  for  the  trouble. 

Damascus  is  the  hotbed  of  Mohammedan  fanaticism. 
The  white-turbaned  and  long-bearded  Moslems  mingle 
curses  on  the  Christian  dogs  with  their  prayers  to  Allah. 
The  burning  hatred  may  break  out  at  any  time  if  not  re¬ 
strained  by  fear  of  the  consequences.  Every  Christian  here 
remembers  the  frightful  massacre  of  July,  i860,  when  at 
least  2,500  adult  male  Christians  were  murdered  in  cold 
blood  without  provocation.  Abd  el  Kader,  the  Algerian  ex¬ 
chief,  who  still  lives  here  in  honorable  exile,  a  vigorous  old 
man  of  seventy  years,  and  who  was  visited  by  some  of  our 
party,  behaved  nobly  on  that  occasion,  and  with  his  Moor¬ 
ish  retinue  saved  the  lives  of  many  hundreds,  while  the  pa¬ 
sha  and  the  Turkish  officials  did  not  move  a  hand.  When 
his  own  life  was  threatened,  the  hero  coolly  mounted  his 
horse,  drew  his  sword,  and  charged  into  the  crowd  of  fu¬ 
rious  fanatics,  exclaiming,  “  Wretches  !  Is  this  the  way 
you  honor  the  Prophet  ?  May  his  curses  be  upon  you  ! 
Shame  upon  you,  shame!  You  will  yet  live  to  repent. 
You  think  you  may  do  as  you  please  with  the  Christians, 
but  the  day  of  retribution  will  come.  The  Franks  will 
vet  turn  your  mosques  into  churches.”  The  venerable 

*  Tj  (iaaiT^ua  aov,  Xpiare,  pamleia  ttuvtuv  tCjv  aluvuv,  Kat  ij  deamria  aov 
cv  naarj  yeve^  ml  yevcd.  Psa.  145  :  13,  Sept. ;  the  word  XpiGri  is  an  inter¬ 
polation. 


DAMASCUS. 


371 


Rev.  S.  Robson,  of  the  Irish  Protestant  mission,  who  was 
here  during  those  days  of  terror,  and  is  here  again  filling 
the  place  of  Mr.  Wright,  gave  me  a  description  of  the 
infernal  tragedy.*  His  colleague,  Rev.  William  Graham, 
was  treacherously  murdered  while  attempting  to  save 
another,  and  Mr.  Robson  himself  was  only  spared  by  be¬ 
ing  in  the  house  of  a  Mohammedan.  The  Christian  quar¬ 
ter  still  bears  traces  of  the  terrible  destruction  to  which 
it  was  then  exposed.  It  is  an  honor  to  P'rance  that  she 
sent  a  corps  of  10,000  men  to  Syria  in  the  interest  of  hu¬ 
manity  and  Christianity.  Since  then  the  admirable  road 
from  Beirut  to  Damascus  was  built  by  a  French  com¬ 
pany,  and  a  daily  diligence  established.  Since  then  a 
Christian  governor  was  secured  for  the  Lebanon  district, 
to  the  great  advantage  of  the  people.  Thus  “  the  wrath 
of  man  ”  was  overruled  for  good. 

It  seems  a  hopeless  task  to  plant  Protestant  Chris¬ 
tianity  in  such  a  place  as  Damascus.  Nevertheless,  the 
thing  has  been  done,  and  not  altogether  without  result. 
Since  1843  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  America 
and  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Ireland  have  maintained 
jointly  a  mission,  with  a  church  for  converts  from  Jews 
and  Greek  Christians,  and  with  schools.  The  buildings 
were  burned  during  the  massacre  of  i860,  but  have  been 
substantially  rebuilt,  chiefly  by  the  munificence  of  an 
English  lady,  Miss  Eliza  Bromfield.  The  Protestant 
community  was  scattered,  but  is  now  larger  than  before 

*  See  the  accounts  by  Col.  Churchill,  and  in  Dr.  Porter’s  Giant  Cities 
of  Basha}t,  pp.  350  and  361.  The  lowest  estimate  there  given  of  the  num¬ 
ber  of  adult  male  Christians  massacred  in  the  villages  of  Damascus,  Her- 
mon,  and  Antilebanon,  in  June  and  July,  i860,  is  six  thousand. 


372 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


the  massacre.  Worship  is  conducted  twice  every  Sunday 
in  Arabic,  and  occasionally  also  in  English  for  the  bene¬ 
fit  of  travellers.  The  present  missionaries  are  Mr.  Craw¬ 
ford  of  America,  and  (temporarily)  Mr.  Robson  of  Ire¬ 
land.  Mr.  Crawford  informed  me  that  the  Greeks  have 
been  stirred  up  to  greater  zeal  for  education,  and  buy 
many  New  Testaments  in  the  Arabic  version  of  Dr.  Van 
Dyck  from  the  Protestant  missionaries.  Many  of  their 
children  and  also  a  few  Mohammedans  visit  their  schools. 

Besides  this  Presbyterian  mission,  there  is  an  Episco¬ 
pal  mission  and  chapel  built  by  the  London  Society  for 
the  Conversion  of  the  Jews,  the  same  which  built  Christ 
Church  in  Jerusalem  and  several  schools  in  Palestine.  I 
attended  the  English  service  (the  last  in  the  season),  con¬ 
ducted  by  a  converted  German  Jew.  Among  the  hear¬ 
ers  was  the  eccentric  English  Lady  Ellenborough,  who, 
after  trying  two  or  three  civilized  Christian  husbands, 
married  a  Bedawin  sheikh,  with  whom  she  is  said  to  have 
lived  happily  for  twenty  years.  She  owns  a  fine  house 
and  garden  in  the  city,  but  in  former  years  she  preferred 
tent-life  in  the  desert. 

Adjoining  the  Episcopal  chapel  are  several  fine  school¬ 
rooms,  where  boys  and  girls  receive  a  Christian  educa¬ 
tion.  These  schools  were  founded  by  the  late  Mrs.  Thomp¬ 
son  of  Beirut,  who  has  done  so  much  good  for  the  rising 
generation  of  Syria. 

These  are  small  beginnings,  but  the  time  is  not  far 
distant  when,  as  Abdel  Kader  prophesied,  “the  mosques 
of  Damascus  will  be  turned  into  Christian  churches.” 


BEIRUT. 


373 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

BEIRUT. 

Beauty,  Prosperity,  and  Prospects  of  Beirut — Prog¬ 
ress  since  1860 — Influence  of  American  and 
English  Missionaries  —  The  Syrian  Protestant 
College — Presbyterian  Missions— British  Mission 
Schools  of  Mrs.  Thompson  and  Mrs.  Mott  — 
Scotch  Mission  School  —  The  Sisters  of  Kaisers- 
werth  —  The  Jesuits  —  Educational  Statistics  of 
Beirut  and  Syria. 

Beirut  is  the  most — not  to  say  the  only — civilized 
and  prosperous  city  in  Syria  and  Palestine.  It  is  beau¬ 
tifully  situated  at  the  foot  of  the  goodly  Mount  Lebanon, 
which  like  an  eternal  wall  protects  it  on  the  east,  and 
on  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  which  connects  it 
with  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  rosy  tint  of  the  former 
and  the  deep  blue  of  the  latter,  form  a  picturesque  con¬ 
trast.  The  scenery  resembles  that  of  Naples  and  _  Pa¬ 
lermo.  The  approach  from  the  harbor,  or  from  the 
mountain  over  the  Damascus  road,  is  grand  and  impo- 
ing.  Old  Lebanon  looks  like  “  an  august  monarch  with 
a  diadem  of  stars  around  his  snowy  turban,  with  his  head 
in  heaven  and  his  feet  upon  the  sea.”  The  climate  is 
healthy,  semi-tropical,  and  moderated  by  the  sea-breeze. 
The  harbor  is  the  best  on  the  Syrian  coast.  Fifty  years 
ago  the  population  did  not  exceed  5,000;  now  it  amounts 
to  80,000,  of  whom  the  majority  are  Christians,  divided 
into  half-a-dozen  sects — Orthodox  Greeks,  Papal  Greeks; 

Jlil.le  I.HII.I,!.  32 


374 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Maronites,  Armenians,  Protestants,  etc.  Then  there  was 
hardly  a  decent  house  outside  of  the  walls,  and  the  mar¬ 
kets  and  shops  depended  for  supplies  on  Sidon;  now 
two-thirds  of  the  people  reside  in  comfortable  dwellings 
and  gardens  in  the  charming  suburbs,  and  Sidon  is 
wholly  dependent  on  Beirut.  The  usual  scenes  of 
Oriental  beggary,  misery,  and  filth,  are  not  wanting ; 
but  there  is  more  energy,  enterprise,  and  thrift  here 
than  anywhere  between  Jerusalem  and  Damascus,  not 
excluding  these  cities.  No  city  in  Turkey  has  grown  so 
fast,  and  nothing  can  stop  her  further  growth,  especially 
if  she  should  be  connected  with  the  projected  railroad  to 
the  Euphrates  and  the  Persian  Gulf. 

After  the  frightful  massacre  of  i860,  the  Lebanon 
district  was  placed  under  a  Christian  governor.  Since 
then,  various  improvements  have  been  introduced.  A 
diligence  road  was  built  to  Damascus  by  a  French  com¬ 
pany ;  carriages  came  into  use;  the  British  and  Foreign 
Water  and  Gas  Works  Company  was  organized,  and 
supplies  the  town  with  good  water  from  the  Dog  river 
(opened  May,  1875).  There  are  several  printing-offices 
(the  American  Protestant  and  the  Jesuit  are  the  largest), 
Arabic  newspapers,  a  bookstore,  and  two  photographic 
establishments.  Mr.  B.  Bistanys,  a  convert  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Mission,  and  elder  of  the  church  (originally  a  Mar- 
onite),  whom  I  visited  in  his  large  and  comfortable 
house,  has  also  a  printing  establishment,  edits  two  jour¬ 
nals,  semi-weekly  and  fortnightly,  and  has  begun  the 
publication  of  an  Arabic  Univ^ersal  Cyclopaedia,  in  six¬ 
teen  volumes,  based  in  part  on  Appleton’s,  with  a  sub- 


BEIRUT.  375 

scription  list  of  from  twelve  to  thirteen  hundred.  All 
this  speaks  of  progress  in  the  stagnant  East. 

Ruskin  calls  Tyre,  Venice,  and  England,  the  three 
thrones  which  men  have  erected,  beyond  all  others,  to 
mark  their  dominion  over  the  sea.  Of  Tyre  only  the 
memory  remains;  of  Venice,  the  ruins;  England  “  which 
inherits  their  greatness,  if  it  forget  their  e.xample,  may 
be  led  through  prouder  eminence  to  less  pitied  destruc¬ 
tion.”*  But  the  day  of  England’s  downfall  is  yet  afar 
off,  and  Macaulay’s  New-Zealander,  who,  from  a  broken 
shaft  of  London  Bridge,  is  to  sketch  the  ruins  of  St. 
Paul’s,  is  not  yet  born,  and  I  hope  he  may  never  be 
born.  England’s  mission  in  the  East  has  only  begun. 

May  not  Beirut  through  English  and  American  influ¬ 
ence  become  a  second  and  a  better  Tyre  ?  Its  history  goes 
far  back  into  antiquity,  but  its  importance  lies  chiefly  in 
the  future.  The  Berytus  of  the  Phoenicians,  Greeks,  and 
Romans,  the  Saracens  and  the  Turks,  will  be  far  out¬ 
stripped  by  the  Christian  Beirut  of  the  next  generation. 
Though  not  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  or  mentioned  but 
once,t  it  is  already  one  of  the  missionary  centres  for 
the  revival  of  Bible  Christianity  in  Bible  Lands. 

Among  the  chief  instrumentalities  for  the  develop- 

*  Stones  of  Venice,  ch.  l. 

t  Perhaps  under  the  name  Berothai,  2  Sam.  8  : 8.  After  the  conquest 
of  Damascus  David  may  have  crossed  over  the  Lebanon  to  her  seaport. 
The  identity  with  Berothah,  mentioned  in  Ezek.  47  ;  16,  as  a  northern 
boundary  of  the  land  of  Israel,  is  more  doubtful.  Some  think  that  Baal- 
berith,  Judg.  8:33,  was  the  god  Baal  of  Beirut.  Thomson  is  disposed  to 
derive  the  name  from  beer  or  well,  “the  City  of  Wells.”  Almost  every 
house  in  Beirut  has  a  well.  On  the  history  of  Beirut  see  Thomson,  I., 
42,  seq. 


376 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


ment  of  this  city  are  the  benevolent  and  literary  institu¬ 
tions  founded  by  foreign  missionary  zeal.  They  have 
already  done  not  a  little  towards  the  commercial  growth 
and  secular  prosperity  of  the  place,  and  are  destined  to 
do  a  great  deal  more. 

First  among  them  are  the  American  Protestant  insti¬ 
tutions  under  the  care  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  For¬ 
eign  Missions  in  New  York.  They  are  manned  by  a 
noble  band  of  Christian  scholars,  mostly  graduates  of 
the  Union  and  Princeton  Theological  Seminaries,  who 
would  do  honor  to  any  church  in  any  country.  I  knew 
them  before,  and  spent  most  of  my  time  with  them  while 
in  Beirut.  Dr.  H.  H.  Jessup,  Dr.  Daniel  Bliss,  Dr.  C.  V. 
A.  Van  Dyck,  Dr.  George  E.  Post,  Prof.  James  S.  Den¬ 
nis,  Prof.  Edwin  R,  Lewis,  and  Prof.  Hall  are  in  good 
health  and  spirits,  and  looking  hopefully  to  a  great  fu¬ 
ture  which  is  dawning  on  the  East.  The  venerable  Dr. 
W.  M.  Thomson  has  returned  to  his  native  America,  and 
is  preparing  a  new  edition  of  his  well-known  work  on 
“  The  Land  and  the  Book,”  with  superior  illustrations. 
I  heard  Dr.  Jessup  preach  an  Arabic  sermon  (which  I 
did  not  understand)  to  a  large  and  attentive  native  con¬ 
gregation,  in  the  beautiful  mission  church  built  by  his 
energy  and  zeal.  A  new  mission  chapel,  with  a  native 
pastor,  has  just  been  opened  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
city.  I  examined  the  adjoining  American  Female 
Seminary,  and  the  Printing  Press  and  Bible  Depository, 
which  sent  forth  in  1876  no  less  than  38,450  volumes 
(or  13,786,980  pages)  of  Bibles,  tracts,  and  other  books, 
including  a  series  of  text-books  and  juvenile  works. 


BEIRUT. 


377 


I  visited  •“  the  Syrian  Protestant  College,”  which  is 
independent  of  the  Mission,  but  grew  out  of  it,  and  pro¬ 
motes  its  interest.  It  numbers  over  one  hundred  pupils 
of  different  creeds  and  nationalities.  Proselytisni  is  not 
attempted,  but  the  Christian  spirit  and  example  of  the 
teachers  tend  to  educate  liberal  Christian  gentlemen. 
The  funds  were  collected  in  America  and  England.  I 
was  delighted  with  the  substantial  buildings,  which  are 
located  on  a  prominence  in  the  best  part  of  the  city,  the 
west  end,  and  can  be  seen  from  afar.  The  college  em¬ 
braces,  besides  the  literary  department,  a  Medical  school, 
an  Observatory,  a  library,  and  a  museum  of  natural 
curiosities.  The  medical  department,  under  the  manage¬ 
ment  of  Dr.  Post,  commends  itself  to  citizens  of  all 
classes.  Dr.  Post,  who  is  an  excellent  practitioner  as 
well  as  teacher  of  the  healing  art,  and  a  j^reacher  of  the 
gospel,  went  to  Constantinople  in  the  same  steamer  with 
us  to  secure  government  recognition  of  the  status  of  the 
Medical  College,  and  its  diplomas.  He  had  the  highest 
recommendations  to  the  Turkish  Government  from  the 
Governor  of  the  Lebanon,  whom  he  laid  under  obliga¬ 
tion  by  a  successful  surgical  operation.  Just  then  there 
was  great  need  of  good  physicians  and  surgeons  for  the 
army.  The  Observatory  is  managed  by  Dr.  Van  Dyck, 
who  is  an  astronomier  and  physician,  as  well  as  an  Arabic 
Bible  translator,  and  sends  daily  by  telegraph  meteo¬ 
rological  observations  to  the  Observatory  of  Constanti¬ 
nople.* 

*  The  faculty  of  this  important  and  hopeful  institution  consists  at 
present  of  the  following  gentlemen,  all  Americans :  Rev.  Daniel  Bliss, 

32* 


3/8 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


At  the  time  of  my  visit  the  Russo-Turkish  war  then 
going  on  was  the  chief  topic  of  conversation.  The 
American  missionaries  took  a  correct  view  of  the  East¬ 
ern  problem,  and  expected  good  results  from  the  war, 
though  they  were  not  without  anxiety  as  to  its  immediate  i 
consequences,  which  might  possibly  compel  them  to  sus¬ 
pend  their  labors  for  a  season.  They  see  that  the  ulti¬ 
mate  mission  field  in  the  East  are  the  Mohammedans, 
and  not  the  old  Christian  Churches,  which  ought  to  help 
themselves ;  and  that  the  Mohammedans  will  not  be 
accessible  till  the  downfall  of  the  political  power  of  the 
Turks  and  of  the  supremacy  of  the  Koran.* 

Beirut  is  the  best  base  of  operations  for  Eastern  mis¬ 
sions.  The  entire  Syrian  Mission  of  the  American  Pres¬ 
byterian  Board  embraces  according  to  the  statistics  of 
1877,  29  American  missionaries  (12  men  and  17  women), 
135  native  Syrian  laborers,  68  preaching  stations,  83 
schools,  619  communicants,  3,925  Sabbath-school  schol¬ 
ars.  The  principal  stations  outside  of  Beirut  are  Tripoli, 
Abeih,  Sidon,  and  Zahleh.  I  saw  Rev.  Rev.  G.  E.  Dale 
and  Fred.  W.  March,  graduates  of  Princeton,  who  labor 

D.  D.,  President,  Rev.  C.  V.  Van  Dyck,  M.  D.,  D.  D.,  Rev.  George  E. 
Post,  M.  D.,  Rev.  D.  Stuart  Dodge,  M.  A.,  Rev.  John  Wortabet,  M.  D., 
Rev.  Edwin  R.  Lewis,  M.  D.,  Harvey  Porter,  B.  A.,  with  a  corps  of  na¬ 
tive  tutors. 

*  In  this  connection  it  may  be  proper  to  refer  to  the  testimony  of  the 
Earl  of  Beaconsfield  who,  in  a  dinner  speech  in  the  London  Mansion- 
House,  given  to  the  British  Plenipotentiaries  at  the  Berlin  Congress, 
called  the  American  missionaries  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  “men  of  the 
highest  principles,  of  even  a  sublime  character,  men  who  devoted  their 
lives  to  the  benefit  of  their  fellow-creatures,  and  sought  no  reward  but  the 
approval  of  their  own  consciences.”  A  testimony  equally  favorable  was 
borne  to  them  several  years  ago  by  Lord  Shaftesbury. 


BEIRUT.  379 

at  the  last-named  place  with  youthful  enthusiasm,  and 
feel  greatly  encouraged. 

Besides  these  flourishing  Presbyterian  institutions, 
the  schools  of  Mrs.  Mott,  Miss  Taylor,  and  the  Deacon¬ 
esses  of  Kaiserswerth  deserve  most  honorable  mention. 

Mrs.  Mentor  Mott,  a  very  wealthy  and  accomplished 
English  lady,  who  built  and  occupies  the  finest  house  in 
all  Syria,  on  an  elevated  spot  in  a  garden  with  a  magnifi¬ 
cent  view  over  the  city,  the  sea,  and  the  mountain,  has 
assumed  the  care  and  management  of  the  “  British  Syrian 
Schools  and  Bible  Missions,”  which  were  founded  by  the 
late  Mrs.  Bowen  Thompson  in  i860,  immediately  after 
the  massacre  of  the  Christians  in  Lebanon  and  Damas¬ 
cus.  She  kindly  conducted  me  through  these  schools. 
I  was  especially  pleased  with  the  singing  of  the  pupils, 
and  with  the  reading  of  the  English  Scriptures  by  the 
blind  girls.  The  number  of  her  schools  in  Beirut  is 
twelve,  and  of  pupils  about  1,500.  They  are  supported 
by  voluntary  contributions,  and  are  independent  of  eccle¬ 
siastical  control.  Mrs.  Mott  is  an  Episcopalian,  but 
attends  with  her  teachers  and  pupils  the  Presbyterian 
Mission  church  of  Dr.  Jessup. 

A  Scotch  lady.  Miss  Jessie  Taylor,  conducts  a  Board¬ 
ing  and  Day  School  for  Moslem  girls,  which  I  was  una¬ 
ble  to  visit,  but  heard  well  spoken  of. 

The  Prussian  Deaconesses  of  Kaiserswerth  conduct 
a  female  Boarding-school  and  Orphanage  of  about  200 
pupils  with  admirable  tact  and  zeal,  and  have  also  the 
spiritual  care  of  the  Hospital  of  the  (Prussian)  Order  of 
the  Knights  of  St.  John.  I  was  present  at  their  May 


33o 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


festival  which  was  celebrated  with  characteristic  German 
heartiness.  The  pupils  and  orphans  represented  nearly 
all  the  races,  sects,  and  colors  of  the  East,  and  looked 
contented  and  hapjoy.  I  visited  afterwards  the  school  of 
the  Deaconesses  at  Smyrna  and  found  it  likewise  a 
model  of  cleanliness,  order  and  devotion. 

The  Jesuits  are  also  very  active  in  Beirut  in  the  in¬ 
terest  of  the  Roman-Catholic  church.  They  have  re¬ 
ceived  large  reinforcements  from  Germany  since  their 
expulsion  from  that  country.  They  are  just  now  issuing 
a  new  Arabic  translation  of  the  Bible,  evidently  in  oppo¬ 
sition  to  Dr.  Van  Dyck’s  translation,  which  is  widely 
circulated  in  the  East.  The  Jesuit  translation  is  a  sig¬ 
nificant  tribute  to  the  value  of  the  Protestant  work.  I 
am  told  that  it  is  made  in  the  high  Arabic,  while  Dr. 
Van  Dyck’s  is  in  the  middle  Arabic,  which  is  more  pop¬ 
ular  and  intelligible.  No  doubt  it  follows  the  Latin 
Vulgate,  to  which  every  Roman-Catholic  version  of  the 
Scriptures  must  be  conformed.  It  is  illustrated  by 
pictures,  and  is  too  dear  for  general  circulation  :  for  in 
the  Roman  Church  the  Bible  is  at  best  a  book  for  the 
clergy,  but  not  for  the  people. 

I  leave  Beirut  with  a  hopeful  view  of  the  future. 
The  Presbyterian  Board  of  Missions  could  not  have 
selected  a  better  spot  for  its  work  in  the  East.  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  of  course,  is  much  nearer  and  dearer  to  the  heart  of 
Christians,  but  is  a  more  difficult  field,  and  is  already  oc¬ 
cupied  by  the  Church  of  England.  There  is  an  amicable 
understanding  between  the  Presbyterian  and  the  Epis¬ 
copalian  missionaries,  that  the  former  should  labor  in 


BEIRUT. 


0 


Syria,  the  latter  in  Palestine.  The  supporters  of  the 
Palestine  missions  are  largely  interested  in  the  conver¬ 
sion  and  restoration  of  the  Jews,  and  wish  to  be  near  at 
hand  when  the  millennial  kingdom  shall  be  established. 
There  is  an  abundance  of  work  for  both,  and  they  de¬ 
serve  alike  the  sympathy  and  support  of  all  Protestant 
Christians. 

To  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  educational  mission 
work  carried  on  in  Beirut  and  neighborhood,  we  append 
the  statistics  kindly  furnished  to  me  by  Dr.  Jessup. 


BEIRUT  SCHOOLS  AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  1877. 


Schools. 

Teachers.  , 
_ 1 

0 

m 

0 

0 

Protestant  schools,  American,  English,  1 
German,  and  native . j 

30 

1 16 

761 

2,281 

3.°42 

Orthodox  Greek - - 

15 

33 

928 

425 

1.353 

Papal  (United)  Greek . 

3 

1 1 

227 

227 

Maronite  (Roman-Catholic) . 

10 

25 

820 

820 

Syriac  — . - . 

I 

2 

80 

80 

Jewish .  . . . . — 

3 

7 

725 

I2S 

Jesuit - - - . 

14 

29 

1,024 

1,024 

Sisters  of  Charity  (Roman-Catholic) - 

4 

31 

1,1  TO 

I, no 

Sisters  of  Nazareth . 

2 

18 

340 

340 

Mohammedan . 

1 1 

23 

80s 

805 

Total . - . 

93 

295 

4>770 

4,756 

00 

c^ 

STATISTICS  OF  GENERAL  PROTESTANT  AND  EVANGELICAL  WORK  IN  SYRIA  AT 

THE  CLOSE  OF  1877. 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


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FAREWELL  TO  THE  HOLY  LAND,  383 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

FARE  WELL  TO  THE  HOE  V  LAND. 

General  Impression  —  The  Harmony  between  the 
Land  and  the  Book — Recapitulation  of  What  I 
Saw — Contrast  between  the  Past  and  the  Pres¬ 
ent — The  whole  Land  a  venerable  Ruin — Pros¬ 
pects  of  a  better  Future— Farewell  to  Palestine. 

“  Those  fields, 

Over  whose  acres  walked  those  blessed  feet 
Which,  eighteen  centuries  ago,  were  nailed. 

For  our  advantage,  on  the  bitter  cross.” 

SHAKESPEARE. 

At  last  I  have  fulfilled  a  long-cherished  desire  to  see 
with  my  own  eyes  and  to  tread  with  my  own  feet  the 
most  sacred  and  the  most  classical  land  in  the  world. 
My  only  regret  is  that  I  could  not  visit  it  twenty  or 
thirty  years  ago,  to  make  earlier  use  of  the  experience 
for  Bible  studies. 

I  have  been  neither  favorably  nor  unfavorably  disap¬ 
pointed.  I  found  the  country  and  the  people  pretty 
much  as  I  expected,  but  I  trust  I  understand  both  better 
than  before.  My  faith  in  the  Bible  has  not  been  shaken, 
but  confirmed.  Many  facts  and  scenes,  which  seem  to 
float  ghost-like  in  the  clouds  to  a  distant  reader,  assume 
flesh  and  blood  in  the  land  of  their  birth.  There  is  a 
marvellous  correspondence  between  the  Land  and  the 
Book.  The  Bible  is  the  best  handbook  for  the  Holy 


384 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Land,  and  the  Holy  Land  is  the  best  commentary  on 
the  Bible.* 

We  began  our  journey  with  Egypt,  the  cradle  of  the 
people  of  Israel,  and  we  found  it  still  a  “  land  of  bond¬ 
age”  under  new  masters,  a  smiling  garden  and  a  dreary 
desert,  covered  with  the  colossal  ruins  of  the  Pharaohs. 
We  crossed  the  Red  Sea,  and  got  a  better  idea  of  the 
miraculous  passage  of  the  Israelites.  We  followed  their 
course  through  “  the  great  and  terrible  wilderness,”  and 
learned  to  appreciate  their  trials,  and  the  benefits  of  this 
long  training-school  for  their  manhood.  We  stood  on 
Mount  Sinai,  the  pulpit  of  Moses  proclaiming  the  law  of 
God  for  all  ages,  and  we  were  indelibly  impressed  with  the 
adaptation  of  the  awfully  sublime  scenery  to  the  event 
which  took  place  there.  We  sat  under  the  venerable  oak 
of  Mamre,  where  the  father  of  the  faithful  entertained  his 
celestial  visitors,  and  we  approached,  not  without  some 
danger  from  Moslem  fanaticism,  the  threshold  of  the 
Machpelah  which  conceals  the  mortal  remains  of  the 
patriarchs.  We  descended  to  the  cave  of  Bethlehem 
where  the  Saviour  of  the  world  was  born,  and  we  walked 
over  the  fields  where  the  shepherds  heard  the  music  of 
angels  singing,  Glory  to  God  and  peace  on  earth.  We 
spent,  with  mingled  feelings  of  joy  and  sadness,  the  Latin 
and  Greek  Easter  at  Jerusalem,  the  queen  of  holy  cities, 
still  enthroned  on  her  hills,  but  a  lonely  widow,  “  with 
dust  on  her  forehead  and  chains  at  her  feet.”  We  walk- 

*  “  L' accord  frappant  des  textes  et  des  lieux,  la  merveilletise  harmonic 
de  rideal  6va?ig^liqtie  avec  le  paysage  qut  lui  servit  de  cadre  fur e7it  pour  ?noi 
comme  ime  rivelaiiojiP  Renan. 


FAREWELL  TO  THE  HOLY  LAND.  385 


ed  about  Sion,  we  marked  her  bulwarks,  we  considered 
her  palaces,  and  we  found  her  still  “  beautiful  for  situa¬ 
tion,  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth"  on  account  of  the  won¬ 
derful  things  said  and  done  and  suffered  there  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind.  We  wept  in  Gethsemane,  where 
Jesus,  overwhelmed  with  the  load  of  the  sins  of  the  world, 
was  “  exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto  death  and  we  re¬ 
joiced  on  Mount  Olivet,  where  he  ascended  to  his  throne 
of  ever-present  and  all-sufficient  grace.  We  wandered 
through  the  ruins  of  Bethany,  where  Lazarus  and  the 
sisters  entertained  their  divine  Lord  and  witnessed  his 
power  over  death  and  the  grave.  We  looked  from  the 
heights  of  Neby  Samwil  over  the  battlefield  of  Gibeon 
and  Beth-horon,  the  Plain  of  Sharon,  and  the  orange- 
groves  of  Jaffa.  We  floated  on  the  salt  waters  of  the 
Dead  Sea,  in  full  view  of  the  mountains  of  Moab,  where 
Jehovah  “kissed  Moses  to  death,”  after  showing  him  the 
beauties  of  the  Land  of  Promise.  We  took  a  refreshing 
bath  in  the  swift-flowing  waters  of  the  Jordan  at  the  tra¬ 
ditional  site  of  the  baptism  of  Christ.  We  spent  a  night 
at  Jericho,  and  barely  escaped  “falling  among  robbers.” 
We  rested  on  a  stony  bed  at  Bethel,  dreaming  the  dream 
of  Jacob,  and  seeing  the  shining  staircase  of  prayer  and 
faith  that  leads  even  from  the  humblest  spot  on  earth  to 
the  throne  of  grace.  We  saw  the  ruins  of  Shiloh,  which 
once  sheltered  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant.  We  sat  on  Ja¬ 
cob’s  Well,  where  our  Lord,  weary  of  travel,  but  not  of 
his  work,  offered  to  a  poor  woman  the  water  of  life,  which 
has  since  quenched  the  thirst  of  innumerable  souls.  We 
ascended  the  ruins  of  the  temple  on  Mount  Gerizim, 

Bi:  le  Lands.  q3 


386 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


where  the  paschal  sacrifice  is  still  offered  from  year  to  year, 
according  to  the  letter  of  the  Mosaic  law,  by  the  small 
remnant  of  the  Samaritan  sect.  We  rode  over  the  fruitful 
fields  and  hills  of  Samaria  through  which  Jesus  passed  on 
his  annual  visits  to  Jerusalem,  scattering  flowers  of  holy 
thoughts  and  deeds  on  the  way.  Our  eyes  feasted  on 
the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  so  often  reddened  with  blood,  and 
spread  out  like  a  green  carpet  of  waving  grainfields.  We 
drank  from  the  Fountain  of  Gideon,  and  heard  his  battle- 
cry  ringing  through  the  air,  “  The  sword  of  the  Lord  and 
of  Gideon.”  We  lamented,  in  view  of  Mount  Gilboa,  with 
David  the  death  of  Jonathan,  whose  love  to  him  was 
“  wonderful,  passing  the  love  of  women.”  We  lunched 
at  Nain,  where  our  Lord  comforted  a  widow  by  raising 
her  only  son  from  the  dead.  We  spent  a  memorable 
Sabbath  in  Nazareth,  where  the  Saviour  of  the  world 
lived  thirty  years  in  quiet  waiting  and  preparation  for  his 
work,  misunderstood  by  his  own  townsmen  and  kindred. 
We  ascended  the  lovely  Tabor,  and  the  lofty  Hermon, 
where  Christ  revealed  his  glory  to  Moses  and  Elijah  and 
his  beloved  disciples.  We  rode  on  the  lonely  banks  and 
sailed  on  the  blue  waters  of  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret,  so 
beautiful  even  in  its  desolation,  so  hallowed  by  the  foot¬ 
steps  of  the  Master, 

“  Most  liuman  and  yet  most  divine. 

The  flower  of  man  and  God.” 

We  made  our  way  through  thistles  and  briers  to  the  ru¬ 
ins  of  Tell  Hum,  and  saw  the  broken  columns  of  the  syn¬ 
agogue  once  resounding  with  words  that  will  never  die. 
We  camped  at  Ccesaraea  Philippi,  and  confessed  with  Pe- 


FARE  WELL  TO  THE  HOL  V  LAND.  387 


ter,  “  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words 
of  eternal  life.  And  we  know  and  are  sure  that  thou  art 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.” 

Palestine  is  a  library  of  revelation  engraved  on  stones. 
The  mountains  and  hills,  the  lakes  and  rivers,  the  caves 
and  rocks  are  alive  with  Biblical  stories.  The  meanest 
spot  records  some  deep  thought  or  noble  deed  that  in¬ 
spires  the  best  of  men  to  this  day.  It  is  still  the  old  Ca¬ 
naan, 

“  In  all  the  imploring  beauty  of  decay.” 

But  in  no  country  is  the  contrast  between  the  glori¬ 
ous  past  and  the  miserable  present  so  startling  and  sad. 
Take  away  the  ideal  element,  and  the  charm  is  gone. 
The  whole  land  is  a  venerable  ruin.  It  is  hardly  worth 
visiting  except  for  its  reminiscences.  Yet  even  in  these 
ruins  it  confirms  the  truth  of  prophecy.  “  I  beheld,  and 
lo,  the  fruitful  place  was  a  wilderness,  and  all  the  cities 
thereof  were  broken  down  at  the  presence  of  the  Lord, 
and  by  his  fierce  anger.  For  thus  hath  the  Lord  said. 
The  whole  land  shall  be  desolate  ;  yet  will  I  not  make  a 
full  end.”*  “  Upon  the  land  of  my  people  shall  come  up 

thorns  and  briers . until  the  Spirit  be  poured  upon  us 

from  on  high,  and  the  wilderness  be  a  fruitful  field. ”f 

When  shall  the  Lord  “  bring  again  the  captivity  of 
Jacob’s  tents,  and  have  mercy  on  his  dwelling-places”  ? 
When  will  the  holy  city  again  be  “  builded  upon  her  own 
heap”.^  When  will  “  the  voice  of  joy,  and  the  voice  of 
gladness,  the  voice  of  the  bridegroom,  and  the  voice  of 
the  bride”  again  be  heard  in  her  palaces,  singing,  “  Praise 

*  Jer.  4  :  26,  27.  t  Isaiah  32  :  13,  15. 


388 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  for  the  Lord  is  good  and  his  mercy 
endureth  for  ever”  ?  When  shall  “  the  wilderness  and 
the  solitary  place  be  glad,  and  the  desert  rejoice  and 
blossom  as  a  rose”  ?  When  shall  “  waters  break  out  in 
the  wilderness  and  streams  in  the  desert”  ?  When  will 
“  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  return,  and  come  to  Zion 
with  songs  and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads”  ? 

“  The  mills  of  God  grind  slowly,  but  surely  and  won¬ 
derfully  fine.”  Deus  habet  suas  koras  et  rnoras.  But  a 
thousand  years  for  him  are  as  one  day.  And  his  promise 
can  never  fail. 

Palestine  needs  for  its  regeneration  a  good  govern¬ 
ment,  an  industrious  population,  capital,  and  a  better  re¬ 
ligion,  even  the  religion  of  the  Bible,  which  sprung  from 
its  own  soil  and  is  now  almost  unknown.  The  Turkish 
government  does  not  even  fulfil  the  first  duty  of  all  gov¬ 
ernment — the  protection  of  life  and  property.  It  is  no 
government  at  all,  but  a  system  of  heartless  oppression 
and  incurable  corruption.  There  is  no  justice  and  hon¬ 
esty  in  officials,  no  encouragement  to  till  the  soil,  to  build 
houses,  to  construct  roads,  to  carry  on  commerce,  to  es¬ 
tablish  manufactories.  The  country  is  systematically 
impoverished,  the  people  drained  of  its  best  men  by  con¬ 
scription,  kept  in  utter  ignorance,  and  ground  down  by 
taxation  till  every  vestige  of  manhood  and  every  hope  of 
improvement  are  crushed  out  of  them. 

But  nature  cannot  be  destroyed.  The  plains  of  Phi- 
listia,  of  Sharon,  of  Esdraelon,  of  Gennesaret,  and  the 
Hauran,  though  overgrown  with  weeds  and  overrun  by 
the  wild  Bedawin,  are  still  there  as  fertile  as  ever.  The 


FARE  WELL  TO  THE  HOL  V  LAND.  389 


lakes  and  the  rivers  and  the  fountains  are  there  as  abun¬ 
dant  as  ever.  The  hills  and  mountains,  though  denuded 
of  forests,  are  there  as  lofty  as  ever.  The  same  abun¬ 
dance  of  flowers  adorns  the  earth  in  spring  as  when  the 
Saviour  drew  lessons  from  the  lilies  of  the  field.  And 
what  the  indolent  Turks  will  never  do,  the  industry  and 
zeal  of  foreigners  will  do,  and  make  Palestine  once  more 
a  land  of  promise  “  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,”  where 
every  man  may  “  sit  under  his  own  vine  and  fig-tree.” 

The  process  of  regeneration  has  already  begun.  We 
see  the  small  but  hopeful  tokens  of  a  better  future  in  the 
carriage-road  from  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem  (the  only  one  so 
far  in  Palestine),  in  the  orange  and  olive  groves  of  recent 
planting,  in  the  German  colonies  of  Jaffa,  Haifa,  and  Je¬ 
rusalem,  in  the  fine  houses,  gardens,  churches,  schools, 
and  orphanages  which  the  missionary  zeal  of  foreign 
Protestants  has  established  in  Jerusalem,  Bethlehem,  and 
Nazareth.  Nor  ought  we  to  overlook  the  significant  fact 
of  the  increasing  immigration  of  the  Jews,  which  was 
stimulated  by  the  liberal  benefactions  of  Rothschild  and 
Montefiore,  and  will  be  still  more  encouraged  by  the 
cojip  d’etat  of  one  of  their  own  blood  who  sits  at  the 
helm  of  Queen  Victoria’s  government.  The  Turkish 
misrule  is  approaching  its  downfall,  and  will  give  way  to 
a  new  order  of  things.  The  old  ruins  need  not  be  swept 
away  by  the  tide  of  civilization,  but  should  be  carefully 
kept  and  restored,  like  the  English  and  Scotch  abbeys 
and  cathedrals  which  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  ven¬ 
erable  past  amid  the  fresh  life  of  the  present. 

With  these  hopes  of  a  brighter  future  we  bid  fare- 
33* 


390 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


well  to  the  Holy  Land,  and  board  the  Austrian  steamer 
in  the  beautiful  harbor  of  Beirut  on  our  homeward  course 
to  Europe  and  America. 

“  Thou  land  of  Judaea  !  thrice  hallowed  of  song, 

Where  the  holiest  of  memories  pilgrim-like  throng; 

In  the  shade  of  thy  palms,  by  the  shores  of  thy  sea, 

On  the  hills  of  thy  beauty,  my  heart  is  with  thee. 

“  With  the  eye  of  a  spirit  I  look  on  that  shore, 

Where  pilgrim  and  prophet  have  lingered  before ; 

With  the  glide  of  a  spirit  I  traverse  the  sod 
Made  bright  by  the  steps  of  the  angels  of  God. 

“  I  tread  where  the  Twelve  in  their  wayfaring  trod; 

I  stand  where  they  stood  with  the  Chosen  of  God, 

Where  his  blessing  was  heard  and  his  lessons  were  taught, 
Where  the  blind  was  restored  and  the  healing  was  wrought. 

“  Oh,  here  with  his  flock  the  sad  Wanderer  came ; 

These  hills  he  toiled  over  in  grief  are  the  same ; 

The  founts  where  he  drank  by  the  wayside  still  flow, 

And  the  same  airs  are  blowing  which  breathed  on  his  brow  ! 

******** 

‘But  wherefore  this  dream  of  the  earthly  abode 
Of  Humanity  clothed  in  the  brightness  of  God  ? 

Were  my  spirit  but  turned  from  the  outward  and  dim. 

It  would  gaze,  even  now,  on  the  presence  of  Him ! 

“Beloved  of  the  Father,  thy  Spirit  is  near 
To  the  meek  and  the  lowly  and  penitent  here ; 

And  the  voice  of  thy  love  is  the  same  even  now 
As  at  Bethany’s  tomb  or  on  Olivet’s  brow. 

“  Oh,  the  outward  hath  gone  !  but  in  glory  and  power 
The  spirit  surviveth  the  things  of  an  hour; 

Unchanged,  undecaying,  its  Pentecost  flame 
On  the  heart’s  secret  altar  is  burning  the  same  !” 


WHITTIER. 


THE  REGENERATION  OF  THE  EAST.  391 


CHAPTER  XL. 

THE  REGENERATION  OF  THE  EAST. 

The  East  a  Vast  Mission-field  for  the  West— A  Mys¬ 
tery  of  Providence  —  The  Rise  and  Fall  of  Mo¬ 
hammedanism— The  Crusades— Moral  Regener¬ 
ation  of  Bible  Lands— Missionary  Churches  and 
Schools  — The  Labors  of  the  American  Board  in 
Turkey  — The  Bible-House,  Female  Seminary, 
and  Robert  College  in  Constantinople  —  The 
Christianization  of  Moslems  — The  Berlin  Con¬ 
gress  and  Anglo-Turkish  Convention— Prospects 
of  the  Future. 

The  lands  of  the  Bible  are  a  vast  mission-field,  which 
must  be  conquered  with  spiritual  weajDons  for  Christ  and 
Christian  civilization  by  the  Western  nations,  in  dis¬ 
charge  of  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  the  blessings  received 
from  them.  Providence  has  prepared  the  way  for  this 
moral  regeneration  by  a  series  of  political  changes,  as 
the  first  introduction  of  Christianity  was  preceded  by 
Greek  letters,  the  conquests  of  Alexander,  and  the  laws 
of  the  Roman  Empire.  Once  Europe  called  upon  Asia, 
“Come  over  and  help  us!”  Now  the  same  cry  comes 
from  Asia  and  Africa  to  Europe  and  America. 

It  is  one  of  the  great  mysteries  of  Providence  that 
the  fairest  portions  of  the  earth,  the  native  lands  of  clas¬ 
sical  literature  and  the  Christian  religion,  should  have 
fallen  under  the  ruinous  sway  of  a  semi-barbarous  race. 


392 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Mohammed  must  have  been  far  more  than  an  ignorant 
camel-driver  and  common  impostor,  to  become  the  ruler 
of  a  hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  consciences,  and  to 
supplant  the  cross  by  the  crescent  in  Africa,  Asia,  and 
even  a  large  part  of  Europe.  He  had  the  providential 
mission  to  destroy  the  gross  idolatry  of  heathen  nations, 
and  to  punish  the  refined  idolatry  of  Christian  churches 
which  had  practically  forgotten  the  first  and  second  com¬ 
mandments.  The  fundamental  truth  that  God  alone  is 
great  and  worthy  of  the  worship  of  his  creatures,  under¬ 
lies  the  fanaticism  of  the  Moslems,  and  was  the  moral 
factor  of  their  success.  This  intensely  earnest  monothe¬ 
ism,  combined  with  fatalism,  sensualism,  and  fearless 
bravery,  was  confronted  with  a  Church  weakened  by  un¬ 
fruitful  disputes  and  torn  by  internal  dissensions.  The 
Turk  would  never  have  struck  his  tent  in  Europe  but  for 
the  hierarchical  rivalry  between  the  Pope  of  Rome — who 
would  rather  see  the  progress  of  Islam  than  the  triumph 
of  the  Greek  schism — and  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
who  cared  more  for  the  metaphysical  procession  than  the 
practical  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  abhorred  the  Latin 
Filioqiie  as  the  worst  of  heresies  and  an  unpardonable 
sin.  This  unhappy  quarrel  turned  the  mediaeval  Crusades 
into  a  magnificent  failure,  a  waste  of  blood  and  treasure, 
of  bravery  and  chivalry,  of  devotion  and  enthusiasm.  The 
Crusaders  sought  Christ  on  earth  and  among  the  dead, 
and,  imitating  their  enemies,  endeavored  to  accomplish 
by  the  sword  what  can  be  accomplished  only  by  the 
spirit. 

If  the  East  is  to  be  regenerated  and  the  Mohamme- 


THE  REGENERATION  OE  THE  EAST.  393 


dans  are  to  be  converted,  it  must  be  done,  as  in  the  be¬ 
ginning,  by  the  might  of  truth,  by  doctrine  and  example, 
by  a  republication  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  This  process 
is  slow  but  sure. 

“  For  truth  is  truth,  since  God  is  God, 

And  truth  the  day  must  win ; 

To  doubt  would  be  disloyalty, 

To  falter  would  be  sin.” 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  first  impulse  to  this 
spiritual  and  bloodless  crusade  of  faithful  preaching  and 
holy  living  came  from  the  farthest  West  which  has  no 
political  interest  in  the  East.  The  pioneers  of  moral 
reform  in  the  Turkish  Empire  are  a  noble  band  of  Amer¬ 
ican  scholars  and  missionaries,  of  whom  the  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury  said  in  i860:  “I  do  not  believe  that  in  the 
whole  history  of  missions — I  do  not  believe  that  in  the 
history  of  diplomacy,  or  in  the  history  of  any  negotiation 
carried  on  between  man  and  man — we  can  find  anything 
to  equal  the  wisdom,  the  soundness,  and  the  pure  evan¬ 
gelical  truth  of  the  men  who  constitute  the  American 
mission.  I  have  said  it  twenty  times  before,  and  I  will 
say  it  again — for  the  expression  appropriately  conveys 
my  meaning — that  they  are  a  marvellous  combination  of 
common  sense  and  piety.” 

The  MISSIONARY  work  in  the  East  began  very  nearly 
fifty  years  ago  among  the  old  Oriental  sects  of  the  Arme¬ 
nians,  Nestorians,  and  Copts,  which  have  been  providen¬ 
tially  preserved  in  a  petrified  state  through  trials  and 
persecutions  of  centuries,  Erom  them  it  gradually  ex¬ 
tended  to  the  Orthodox  Greeks,  the  United  or  Papal 


394 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Greeks,  the  Maronites  (who  are  Papists  but  with  a  mar¬ 
ried  priesthood  and  a  Syriac  liturgy),  and  the  Bulgarians 
(who  occupy  an  independent  position  between  the  Greek 
and  Roman  Churches).  The  Latin  Catholics  are  least 
accessible,  because  they  have  more  vitality  and  western 
support,  and  are  closely  watched  by  the  Franciscans  and 
Jesuits,  who  display  their  usual  zeal  in  all  the  holy  places 
and  wherever  there  is  an  opening  for  them. 

The  mission  work  is  amicably  divided  (since  1843) 
among  three  leading  Protestant  denominations,  differ¬ 
ing  in  church  polity,  but  agreed  in  the  same  faith.  The 
Presbyterians  labor  in  Egypt,  Syria,  and  Persia,  among 
Copts,  Armenians,  Greeks,  Maronites,  and  Nestorians ; 
the  Church  of  England,  in  Palestine,  among  Jews  and 
Greeks  ;  the  Congregationalists,  in  Turkey  proper, 
among  Armenians,  Bulgarians,  and — as  far  as  possible — 
also  among  Turks.  Besides  these  Anglo-American  mis¬ 
sions,  the  cause  of  evangelical  Christianity  is  promoted 
by  the  Chrischona  Brethren  of  Basle,  the  “Jerusalems- 
Verein  ”  of  Berlin,  and  the  Deaconesses  of  Kaiserswerth, 
who  administer  comfort  to  the  sick  of  all  nationalities 
and  creeds,  and  devote  special  attention  to  the  training  of 
orphans. 

At  first  the  object  of  the  American  missionaries  was 
to  reform  the  native  churches  from  within  on  their  own 
historic  basis,  beginning  with  the  priesthood.  But  expe¬ 
rience  forced  them  to  change  their  policy.  The  hostility 
of  the  priesthood  expelled  the  converts,  as  the  Jewish 
synagogue  had  expelled  the  apostles,  and  the  Romish 
hierarchy  the  reformers.  Nevertheless  the  Prostestant 


THE  REGENERATION  OF  THE  EAST.  395 


missions  have  indirectly  benefited  those  old  churches  by 
stimulating  them  to  greater  zeal  for  education  and  reli¬ 
gion.  The  flourishing  schools  of  the  venerable  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Hill  in  Athens  (American  Episcopalians),  which 
are  still  conducted  on  the  conservative  principle  of  non¬ 
interference  with  the  Greek  Church,  are  working  as  a 
wholesome  leaven  within  that  Church.  But  no  Protestant 
churches  could  be  organized  on  this  principle  within 
another  church  of  a  different  creed  and  discipline.  Since 
the  separation,  the  number  of  Protestant  congregations 
of  native  converts  and  their  offspring  has  been  steadily 
on  the  increase. 

Of  equal,  and  even  of  greater  importance,  are  the 
missionary  schools  and  seminaries  of  learning  which  train 
up  a  new  generation,  and  are  accessible  to  all  nationali¬ 
ties  and  creeds.  Of  course,  no  direct  attempt  at  conver¬ 
sion  can  be  made  in  these  schools,  but-  it  is  hoped  that 
the  good  principles  and  example  of  the  teachers  will  tell 
upon  the  life  of  the  pupils. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  Presbyterian  and  Episcopal 
missions  in  former  chapters,  but  must  add  a  few  words 
on  the  equally  important  and  equally  flourishing  missions 
of  the  American  Congregationalists,  under  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  of  For¬ 
eign  Missions  in  Boston.  They  have  achieved  great  suc¬ 
cess  among  the  Armenians — the  Yankees  of  the  East — 
who  are  specially  adapted  to  a  simple,  intelligent,  enter¬ 
prising,  self-supporting,  and  self-governing  type  of  evan¬ 
gelical  Protestantism,  similar  to  that  of  New  England. 
The  centre  of  the  Congregational  missions  is  Constanti- 


39^ 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


nople,  as  Beirut  and  Cairo  are  the  centres  of  the  Presby¬ 
terian,  and  Jerusalem  is  the  centre  of  the  Episcopal  mis¬ 
sions.  From  that  centre  the  operations  extend  westward 
in  European  Turkey,  and  eastward  in  Asia  Minor.  There 
is  scarcely  an  important  town  in  Turkey  without  a  Prot¬ 
estant  community,  which  exerts  a  healthful  influence 
upon  the  surroundings.  The  American  Board  has  spent 
from  the  start  till  1878  about  five  million  dollars  on  the 
mission  work  in  Turkey.  It  has  sent  out  and  commis¬ 
sioned  in  all  384  American  ordained  and  native  mission¬ 
aries  ;  1 16  are  now  in  the  field,  including  28  women 
devoted  to  the  elevation  of  their  own  sex.  The  number 
of  organized  churches  is  86,  of  preaching  stations  275, 
with  an  average  attendance  on  the  Sabbath  of  25,000 ; 
the  communicant  membership  amounts  to  over  S,ooo. 
The  most  prominent  among  the  missionaries  who  have 
been  trained  in  Andover,  Yale,  Union,  and  other  Ameri¬ 
can  seminaries,  and  labored  or  are  still  laboring  in  Tur¬ 
key,  are  Goodell,  Hamlin,  Schauffler,  Schneider,  Dwight, 
Riggs, 'the  brothers  Bliss,  Wood,  Powers,  Pratt,  Wheeler, 
Washburn,  Trowbridge,  and  others.  The  missionaries 
preach,  teach,  translate  the  Bible  into  the  popular  tongues 
of  the  East,  and  issue  newspapers  and  illustrated  month¬ 
lies  for  children  and  adults,  in  the  Armenian,  the  Armeno- 
Turkish,  Graeco-Turkish,  and  Bulgarian  languages.  The 
Bulgarian  newspaper  has  more  subscribers  (3,000)  than 
any  newspaper  in  Constantinople. 

Besides  these  church  missions,  we  must  mention  the 
educational  institutions,  which  are  independent  of  the 
Board,  but  have  grown  out  of  its  labors,  and  afford  the 


THE  REGENERATION  OF  THE  EAST.  397 


greatest  indirect  help  to  the  mission.  Most  prominent 
among  them  are  three  noble  institutions  in  Constantino¬ 
ple  ;  the  Bible-House  in  Stamboul,  the  Female  Seminary 
in  Scutari,  and  Robert  College  in  Bebek  on  the  Bosphorus. 
What  strikes  the  visitor  at  once  is  the  admirable  selection 
of  location,  in  which  the  Congregationalists  have  shown 
as  much  tact  and  taste  as  the  Presbyterians  in  Beirut, 
and  the  Anglicans  on  Mount  Sion.  A  prominent  and 
convenient  location  is  a  perennial  attraction  and  the  best 
advertisement.  A  battery  in  a  good  position  may  do 
great  execution,  while  in  a  bad  position  it  will  only  waste 
ammunition.  This  the  Jesuits  and  Roman  Catholics 
know  well,  and  they  act  accordingly  wherever  they  ad¬ 
vance  and  take  a  prominent  foothold. 

The  Bible-House  is  located  in  the  busiest  portion  of 
Stamboul,  not  far  from  the  lower  bridge  over  the  Golden 
Horn,  and  is  a  substantial  and  convenient  building,  from 
which  are  issued  Bibles,  religious  tracts,  and  religious 
and  educational  works  in  all  the  languages  used  in  Tur¬ 
key.  It  forms  the  headquarters  of  the  missionaries  and 
their  friends.  I  attended  a  very  solemn  communion  ser¬ 
vice  held  in  an  upper  room  at  the  anniversary  meeting  of 
the  Bulgarian  missionaries,  who  are  doing  a  noble  work 
among  that  interesting  people.  Several  ministers  from 
America  and  Ireland  were  present,  and  made  brief 
addresses. 

The  Female  Seminary,  under  the  direction  of  Mrs. 
Williams,  lies  on  a  commanding  height  above  the  Arme¬ 
nian  church  in  Scutari,  and  affords  a  thorough  Christian 
education  for  a  reasonable  price. 

3i 


JJiCe  Lauds. 


39^ 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Robert  College,  so  called  after  its  generous  found¬ 
er  in  New  York,  stands  on  a  commanding  height  at 
Bebek,  about  an  hour  from  Constantinople,  with  a  mag¬ 
nificent  view  over  the  European  and  Asiatic  shores  of 
the  Bosphorus.  It  was  a  master-stroke  of  policy  to  select 
this  spot,  and  it  required  all  the  shrewdness,  ingenuity, 
energy,  and  perseverance  of  Dr.  Hamlin,  its  first  Presi¬ 
dent,  and  the  backing  of  Admiral  PYrragut  with  the 
American  fleet,  to  secure  it.  The  house,  built  under  Dr. 
Hamlin’s  direction,  is  fire-proof,  and  admirably  adapted 
for  its  use.  It  can  accommodate  about  250  pupils.  The 
Board  of  Instruction  embraces  fifteen  teachers,  chiefly 
Americans.  Dr.  George  Washburn  is  the  Director,  Dr. 
Albert  L.  Long  (formerly  a  Methodist  missionary  in  Bul¬ 
garia),  Professor  of  Natural  Sciences.  Besides  the  usual 
branches  of  a  college  course,  no  less  than  eight  langua¬ 
ges  are  taught — English,  Latin,  Armenian,  Bulgarian, 
French,  German,  Greek,  and  Turkish.  The  number  of 
students  which  formerly  reached  220,  has  diminished,  in 
consequence  of  the  war  and  the  hard  times,  to  115,  but 
will  no  doubt  soon  rise  again.  They  come  from  all  parts 
of  Turkey,  and  represent  all  its  nationalities  and  reli¬ 
gions.  Care  is  taken  to  avoid  sectarian  teaching,  but  the 
Bible  is  read  every  morning,  and  explained  every  Sunday. 
It  was  my  privilege,  with  Bishop  Marvin  of  the  Southern 
Methodist  Church,  to  address  the  students  after  the  reli¬ 
gious  exercises,  and  I  scarcely  ever  heard  more  hearty 
responses  to  what  was  said  about  the  importance  of  a 
good  Christian  education.  Robert  College  is  worthy  of 
all  confidence.  It  affords  the  best  English  education 


THE  REGENERATION  OF  THE  EAST.  399 


that  can  be  obtained  in  Turkey,  and  is  destined  to  exert 
a  growing  influence  on  the  future  destinies  of  that  em¬ 
pire.  It  will,  no  doubt,  gradually  expand  into  a  complete 
Bosphorus  University. 

Great  as  the  result  of  the  mission  work  in  Turkey  has 
been,  considering  the  difficulties,  discouragements,  and 
persecutions,  it  is  but  the  beginning  of  a  much  greater 
work  of  the  future.  The  Protestant  congregations  of 
converts  from  older  Christian  churches  and  sects  are  the 
entering  wedge  for  the  conversion  of  the  Mohamme¬ 
dans  who  are  the  true  ultimate  mission  field  of  the 
East. 

It  is  not  probable  that  the  Moslems  will  ever  become 
Greek  or  Roman  Catholic,  whom  they  abhor  as  semi¬ 
idolaters  on  account  of  their  Mariolatry,  saint-worship, 
and  image-worship,  and  whom  they  have  kept  in  a  state 
of  degrading  servitude  for  so  many  centuries.  The  Ori¬ 
ental  sects  are  out  of  the  question,  for  they  have  no  vital¬ 
ity,  no  missionary  zeal.  But  there  is  a  strong  probabil¬ 
ity  that  a  large  number  of  Moslems  will  embrace  the 
Protestant  faith,  with  such  modifications,  of  course,  as 
are  inevitable  from  the  radical  difference  of  nationality 
and  deep-seated  habits.  Protestantism  exhibits  to  them 
a  new  and  more  congenial  type  of  Christianity,  a  simpler 
and  more  spiritual  mode  of  worship,  and  a  higher  educa¬ 
tion  than  either  the  Greek  or  Latin  Church  ;  and  it  ap¬ 
proaches  them  from  England  and  America  in  the  distant 
west  without  the  hateful  traditions  of  bloody  wars  and 
crusades.  It  is  an  encouraging  and  significant  sign  that 


400 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


the  Protestant  missionaries  and  schools  are  highly  es¬ 
teemed  by  them,  and  to  some  extent  even  patronized  for 
their  secular  advantages,  and  that  the  sale  of  Arabic  and 
Turkish  Bibles  is  steadily  increasing  among  them. 

If  once  brought  under  the  humanizing  and  sanctify¬ 
ing  power  of  the  pure  gospel  the  Moslems  may  become  as 
good  Christians  as  most  other  nations.  The  Arabs  and 
Turks — different  in  race  but  united  in  religion — are  now 
ignorant,  fanatical,  sensual,  jDolygamous,  and  ferocious 
semi-barbarians,  but  not  without  the  redeeming  qualities 
of  bravery,  simplicity,  temperance,  truthfulness,  cour¬ 
tesy,  and  hospitality,  to  which  may  be  added  a  singular 
kindness  to  their  favorite  animals — the  horse,  the  camel, 
and  the  dove.  Their  noble  physique  is  worthy  to  be  the 
tent  of  a  noble  spirit.  Conversion  to  Christianity  would 
emancipate  them  from  their  vices  and  strengthen  their 
virtues  by  associating  them  with  the  higher  Christian 
graces. 

Heretofore  no  Mohammedan  has  been  allowed  to 
change  his  religion  without  incurring  the  death  penalty, 
which  the  Koran  enjoins  upon  all  apostates.  The  liberty 
granted  to  foreign  missionaries  was  only  liberty  to  prose¬ 
lyte  among  their  fellow-Christians,  on  the  principle  divide 
et  impcra,  but  not  from  any  conception  of  the  liberty  of 
conscience  as  an  inherent  right  of  man  for  which  he  is 
responsible  to  God  alone.  The  Hatti  Huniayotin  (Impe¬ 
rial  Edict,  also  called  Hatti  Shcrlf  or  Sacred  Edict) 
which  was  wrested  from  the  Sultan  by  his  Christian 
allies  after  the  Crimean  war  in  1856,  abolished  the  death 
penalty,  but  was  a  dead  letter,  at  least  outside  of  Con- 


■THE  REGENERATION  OE  THE  EAST.  401 


stantinople.  A  few  dozen  Turks  were  secretly  baptized, 
but  an  open  profession  of  Christianity  brought  on  per¬ 
secution  and  exile.  Real  liberty  of  conscience  and  open 
access  to  the  faith  of  the  Moslems  can  only  be  secured 
by  such  a  humiliation  of  the  Turkish  power  as  will  sub¬ 
ject  it  completely  to  the  mercy  of  Christian  Europe,  and 
break  down  the  supremacy  of  the  Koran. 

This  has  been  done  by  recent  events,  and  will  ulti¬ 
mately  prove  the  greatest  blessing  to  the  Arabs  and 
Turks  themselves.  For  nothing  does  a  proud  nation,  as 
a  proud  individual,  so  much  good  as  a  thorough  humilia¬ 
tion,  which  compels  it  to  reflect,  to  repent,  and  to  reform. 
Russia,  under  the  sense  of  a  providential  mission,  as  well 
as  with  a  natural  desire  for  more  territory  on  the  Dan¬ 
ube  and  the  Black  Sea,  undertook  to  punish  the  “  un¬ 
speakable”  Turk  for  his  late  shocking  atrocities  against 
Christian  men,  women  and  children,  and  the  accumulated 
guilt  of  centuries,  and  victoriously  approached  the  very 
gates  of  Constantinople,  when  England,  always  jealous 
of  the  progress  of  Russia,  and  afraid  of  her  supposed  de¬ 
signs  upon  British  India,  interposed  with  her  powerful 
navy,  and  threatened  war  for  the  protection  of  the  Sul¬ 
tan,  or  rather  for  British  interests.  But  counsels  of  mod¬ 
eration  fortunately  prevailed,  and  a  Congress  of  states¬ 
men  finished  in  peace  the  bloody  work  of  war,  and  saved 
the  contending  nations  a  waste  of  millions  of  treasure 
and  armies  of  men. 

The  Berlin  Congress  of  July,  1878,  marks  an  im¬ 
portant  epoch  in  the  affairs  of  Turkey.  Its  international 
treaty  is  the  greatest  triumph  of  modern  diplomacy  and 


402 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


perhaps  the  best  settlement  of  the  intricate  Eastern  prob¬ 
lem  which  the  political  wisdom  of  Europe,  under  the  presi- 
ding  genius  of  Prince  Bismarck,  could  make  at  this  time. 
It  is  a  vast  improvement  on  the  Paris  Treaty  of  1856 
and  the  London  Treaty  of  1871.  We  may  regret  the 
division  of  Bulgaria  and  the  neglect  of  the  claims  of 
Greece  to  the  adjoining  Hellenic  provinces  and  the  isl¬ 
and  of  Crete.  We  may  regret  that  the  Congress  did  not 
make  clean  work  of  European  Turkey,  and  place  the 
whole  of  it  under  native  Christian  self-government,  or 
divide  it  among  the  adjoining  European  powers.  Euro¬ 
pean  Turkey  had  been  fairly  conquered  by  Russia,  and 
the  Turk  had  long  lost  all  claim  over  territories  which 
he  ruled  only  to  ruin.  It  is  a  just  retribution  of  history 
that  he  who  conquers  by  the  sword  shall  in  turn  be  con¬ 
quered  by  the  sword.  But,  considering  the  complication 
of  interests  and  the  jealousies  of  governments,  which, 
though  Christian  in  name,  are  all  selfish  in  fact,  and  un¬ 
fortunately  controlled  by  their  pockets,  rather  than  their 
conscience,  we  must  overlook  minor  defects  in  view  of 
the  great  substantial  gain. 

The  principle  of  religious  liberty  achieved  a  remark¬ 
able  triumph  in  the  Berlin  Treaty.  It  is  expressly  se¬ 
cured  to  the  several  newly-organized  provinces,  and  espe¬ 
cially  also  to  the  subjects  of  the  remaining  dominions  of 
the  Sultan,  in  Article  62,  which  reads  as  follows : 

“  The  Sublime  Porte,  having  expressed  the  wish  to  maintain  the 
principle  of  religious  liberty,  and  give  it  the  widest  scope,  the  con¬ 
tracting  parties  take  note  of  this  spontaneous  declaration.  In  no 
part  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  shall  differences  of  religion  be  alleged 


THE  REGENERATION  OE  THE  EAST.  403 

against  an  individual  as  a  ground  for  exclusion  or  incapacity  as 
regards  the  discharge  of  civil  and  political  rights,  admission  to  the 
public  service,  functions,  and  honors,  or  the  exercise  of  the  differ¬ 
ent  professions  and  industries.  All  persons  shall  be  admitted,  with¬ 
out  distinction  of  religion,  to  give  evidence  before  the  tribunals. 
Liberty  and  the  outward  exercise  of  all  forms  of  worship  are  assured 
to  all,  and  no  hindrance  shall  be  offered,  either  to  the  hierarchical 
organization  of  the  various  communions,  or  to  their  relations  with 
their  spiritual  chiefs.  Ecclesiastics,  pilgrims,  and  monks  of  all 
nationalities  travelling  in  Turkey  in  Europe  or  I  urkey  in  Asia  shall 
enjoy  the  same  rights,  advantages,  and  privileges.  The  right  of 
official  protection  by  the  diplomatic  and  consulai  agents  of  the 
Pow'ers  in  Turkey  is  recognized  both  as  regards  the  above-mention¬ 
ed  persons,  and  their  religious,  charitable,  and  other  establishments 
in  the  holy  places  and  elsewhere.  The  rights  possessed  by  France 
are  expressly  reserved,  and  it  is  well  understood  that  no  alterations 
shall  be  made  in  the  status  qico  in  the  holy  places.  The  monks  of 
Mount  Athos,  of  whatever  country  they  may  be  natives,  shall  be 
maintained  in  their  former  possessions  and  advantages,  and  shall 
enjoy,  without  an  exception,  complete  equality  of  rights  and  pre¬ 
rogatives.” 


This  is  all  that  the  American  missionaries  and  the 
American  branch  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  have  peti¬ 
tioned  for,  and  all  that  Christian  missionaries  of  any  sect 
can  reasonably  desire.  Liberty  is  substituted  for  mere 
toleration,  and  liberty  is  solemnly  guaranteed  by  treaty. 
It  is  true  the  individual  right  to  change  one’s  religion 
with  impunity,  and  the  right  of  missionary  propaganda 
by  peaceful  moral  agencies  (without  which  Christian¬ 
ity  itself  would  never  have  made  much  progress),  is 
not  mentioned,  but  it  seems  to  be  implied  in  “  the  prin¬ 
ciple  of  religious  liberty  in  the  widest  scope'.'  Yet  here 
is  just  the  point  v'here  great  wisdom  and  caution  will  be 
necessary  for  some  time,  until  a  change  in  public  send- 


404 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


ment  will  force  the  Turkish  authorities  to  give  the  phrase 
this  liberal  construction. 

The  Anglo-Turkish  Treaty,  though  no  work  of  the 
Berlin  Congress,  but  a  secret  side-stroke  of  policy  in 
the  interest  of  England  as  a  protection  against  Russia,  is 
the  most  important  part  of  the  recent  settlement  as  re¬ 
gards  Asiatic  Turkey,  which  is  thereby  placed  under  the 
protectorate  of  England,  with  the  island  of  Cyprus  (the 
home  of  Barnabas  and  of  Sergius  Paulus,  the  first  Chris- 
ian  ruler),  as  a  base  of  operations.  I  would  rather  see 
the  Czar  on  the  throne  of  Constantinople  than  the  Sul¬ 
tan,  for  he  represents  a  progressive  and  civilizing  power 
whose  superiority  is  well  typified  by  the  contrast  between 
young  Petersburg,  risen  from  the  swamp  in  a  forbidding 
climate  to  the  position  of  one  of  the  finest  capitals  of 
Europe,  and  old  Constantinople  mouldering  on  the  smi¬ 
ling  shores  of  the  Bosphorus  between  two  continents  and 
two  seas.  Alexander  11.  must  be  counted  among  the 
best  of  Russian  sovereigns,  and,  as  the  emancipator  of 
twenty-three  millions  of  serfs  and  protector  of  the  Greek 
Church,  he  would  have  brought  liberty  at  least  to  the  vast 
majority  of  Christians  in  Turkey.*  But  I  greatly  prefer 
the  constitutional  sceptre  of  England  to  the  despotic 
government  of  Russia,  which  tolerates  or  persecutes  Ro- 

*  I  may  remark  here  incidentally  that  Prince  Gortchakoff  emphati¬ 
cally  assured  the  international  deputation  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  at 
Friedrichshafen,  in  1871,  and  authorized  the  spokesman  of  the  deputation 
to  publish  it  to  the  world,  that  his  “  august  master  and  himself  are  cor¬ 
dially  in  favor  of  religious  liberty,  and  will  do  all  in  their  power  to  pro¬ 
mote  it  as  far  as  practicable  in  Russian  dominions.”  See  the  Report  of 
the  American  Alliance  Deputation  to  Russia,  New  York,  1871. 


THE  REGENERATION  OF  THE  EAST.  405 


man  Catholics  and  Protestants  as  the  interests  of  the 
State  and  of  the  Greek  Church  may  seem  to  require. 
England  is  everywhere,  at  home  and  abroad,  the  friend 
and  protector  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  as  well  as 
material  progress,  and  allows  fair  play  to  missionary  ac¬ 
tivities,  without  distinction  of  sect.  She  has  moreover 
shown  a  wonderful  skill  and  success  in  planting  colonies 
and  ruling  heathen  and  Mohammedan  races.  Her  rule 
in  India,  no  matter  how  acquired,  has  been  a  blessing  to 
the  Hindoos,  giving  them  peace  and  prosperity,  and  with¬ 
out  interfering  with  their  religion,  has  opened  the  way 
for  the  orderly  introduction  of  Christianity.  Her  mo¬ 
tives  in  concluding  the  secret  convention  with  Turkey 
may  have  been  purely  selfish  ;  but  it  is  an  undoubted 
fact  that  the  interests  of  England  are  identical  with  the 
interests  of  constitutional  freedom  and  an  enlightened 
civilization.  Wherever  the  British  flag  waves,  there  is 
security  of  life  and  property  and  the  rights  of  men,  there 
is  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  there  is  vigorous 
and  honest  administration  of  justice,  there  is  commercial 
prosperity,  there  is  the  literature  cf  Shakespeare  and 
Milton,  there  we  find  an  open  Bible  and  a  free  pulpit, 
the  purity  and  dignity  of  woman,  and  the  blessings  of  a 
Christian  home. 

Viewed  from  this  point  of  view,  the  English  protecto¬ 
rate  of  Turkey,  which  may  result  sooner  or  later  in  an- 
ne.xation,  promises  to  be  in  the  end  as  great  a  benefit  to 
the  Turks  and  Arabs  as  England’s  reign  in  India  has  been 
to  the  Hindoos.  She  has  indeed  assumed  an  enormous 
responsibility  and  a  most  difficult  task.  It  will  tax  all  her 


4o6 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


capital  and  energy  to  lift  Turkey  out  of  the  chaotic 
confusion  and  bankruptcy  in  which  she  is  left  after  an 
exhaustive  war.  But  she  is  better  fitted  for  the  task 
than  any  other  government  on  earth,  and  she  will  have 
the  hearty  sympathy  and  cooperation  of  all  true  friends 
of  those  classic  lands  now  fearfully  prostrated,  but  des¬ 
tined  to  see  a  day  of  resurrection  to  new  life. 

It  may  be  doubted  indeed  whether  the  Turk  can  be 
truly  reformed  without  ceasing  to  be  a  Mohammedan. 
In  the  transforming  process  he  must  become  either  an 
infidel  or  a  Christian.  We  hope  and  pray  that  before 
long  he  will  transfer  his  allegiance  from  the  false  prophet 
of  Mecca  to  the  true  Prophet  of  Nazareth. 


MEANING  OF  ARABIC  WORDS. 


Abu  . — Father. 

'Ain  (Hebrew  .£■«),  plural  'Ayiin - Fountain. 

Allah - God. 

Anierikani,  Arnelikani . — . American. 

'A?-abi  . . --Arabic. 


Bab . . . Door,  gate. 

Badiye . . - . Desert. 

Bahr - - - Sea. 

Bakshish- . . Gift,  present. 

Bedutuy  (or  Bedouin),  pi.  Bedawin  —  Dweller  in  the  Desert. 

Beit  (Hebrew  Beth)  - - House. 

Bint,  pi.  ben'ith - - Daughter. 

Bir  . . . . . . Well. 

Dcir - Convent. 

Emir - Prince. 

Fransuwi - - - French  (European). 

Ilumar,  pi.  haniir - Ass. 

Ibrahim - Abraham. 

Ibu,  pi.  beni - - - Son. 

Inglizi- . - . . English. 

Isl . - - - Jesus. 

(  Submission  (the  Mohammedan  re- 

JsBm - - - - . J  .  , 

'  (  ligion). 

yebel,  p\.  jib'll - Mountain. 

Jemel,  pX.jimlll - - Camel. 

Jisr . — . Bridge. 

Kady  (Hebrew  Dan) - Judge. 

Kawwus . --Consul’s  servant  (gensdarme). 

Kefr - - Village. 


4o8  meaning  of  ARABIC  WORDS. 


Khan . - . - . 

Khow'ja  (lit.  “the  respected”) 

Kul'cct,  or  KuPah,  or  Kasr - 

La  ilaha  ill'  Allah,  wa  Miihamme-  )  j  There  is  no  god  but  God,  and  Mo- 


dn-rrasul- Allah . . .  hammed  is  the  prophet  of  God. 

l\Ia  (vulgar  inoi) - - --Water. 

I\Kl7'  (Syrian) - Christian  saint. 

Maryatn . - . - - - Mary. 

l\Iasr - - - - Egypt. 

Aleri - - - - -Plain,  meadow. 

Aloskdwi  - - Russian. 

Miieddm . - . — . —  Caller  to  prayer. 

[Mukr) - - Muleteer. 

JMnrsal - - -  — Missionary. 

Miisa - - - . - . M  OSes. 

Aluslim,  or  Aloslein  — . Mohammedan. 

Miissulnia?i,  pi.  Jllnssiih/ians - -  do. 

Nahr - - - . . River. 

Aa'hy - - - - . Prophet. 

K'lthb-- - Pass. 

Niisra}ti  (Nazarene),  pi.  Nasara - Christian. 


Inn. 

(  Gentleman  (European  or  American 
(  traveller). 

•Castle. 


Ras . . - . . Head,  cape. 

Rasid  (applied  to  Mohammed) - Prophet. 

Sheikh,  pi.  Shnyukh  — . Chief,  elder. 

ShZ.la - - — Turban. 

Suleiman - - - Solomon. 


Tarhtish  -  - - 

Tell,  pi.  Tnlul- 

Tur . — 

Turki . 


■Fez,  cap. 
•Hill,  mound. 
■Mountain. 
Turkish. 


Unmi . . --Mother. 

IVady . Valley,  watercourse. 

IVely - - - - -Tomb  of  a  Mohammedan  saint. 

Yehudi . - . Jew. 

Yitsef . . - . Joseph. 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


Abraham - pages  90,  209,  214 

Aboo  Simbel - 

Abydos . . 

Alexander,  Bishop 

Alexander  the  Great . 26,  85 

Alexander  II. . . 190,  404 

Alexander,  Mrs. - 303 

Alexandria  — . 25,  122 

Alliance,  Evangelical,  in  Egypt  129 
’Ain,  Et-Tin--347,  352;  Gadis, 

198;  Havvarah,  163;  Hud- 
herah,i97;  Mudavvarah,  351; 

Tabighah - 348 

American  Missionaries - 378,  393 

Amosis  (Aahmes)  I.  - .  95 

Anchoretism . 123 

Anglo-Prussian  Bishopric  in 

Jerusalem . - . 244 

Anglo-Turkish  Treaty . 404 

Anthony,  St. . . —  123 

Aperiu - 94,  too 

Armageddon . 319 

Armenians . - . 395 

Asenath - 57 

Assouan  . .  78 

Asyoot - - —  6S,  127 

Athanasius - 27,  122 

’Ayun  Musa .  150 

Baal  Zephon -  155 

Badeker - 37,  177,  181,  312,  3SI 

Backsheesh- . - . -  107 

Banias . 332,  355 

Barada . . 366 

Baths  of  Pharaoh -  165 

Baur - 363 

Beaconsfield - 378,  389 

Bedawin-- .  136 


Beer . . 167 

80  I  Beirut . -  373 

70  ;  Beit  Jibrin - 420 

Bellamy,  Rev.  Franklin . 32S 

Beni-Hassan . - . 66 

Berlin  Congress .  401 

Bethany . . -272,  276 

Bethel . -  306 

Bethlehem . 220 

Bethlehem  and  Golgotha . 230 

Bethsaida . 345,  353 

Beth-Shemesh . 56,  58 

Bible  House  in  Constantino¬ 
ple . 397 

Birch,  Samuel . .  85 

Bistany,  B.  . . 376 

Bliss,  Rev.  Dr. .  376 

Book  of  the  Dead -  42 

Boulak  . . 37 

Brugsch-Bey--40,  67,  68,  70,  86,  89, 

90,  97,  too,  loi.  145,  155,  158 

Bunsen — 42,  82,  83,  86,  89,  97,  244 

Ctesaraea  Philippi  - . 332,  355 

Cairo . 31 

Calvary . . -  259 

Camel . - .  139 

Capernaum . 343,  350 

Cataract  of  the  Nile  • — .  81 

Catharine,  St.- . 185,  188 

Convent  of-- . .  184 

Mount . - . 195 

Chabas - - —  97 

Champollion .  85 

Chateaubriand . . -  265 

Cheops  . . 43-  44.  52 

Chersa  . . — . 346 

Chorazin . 350,  353 


245 


liible  LiluJs. 


410 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Chronology  of  Egypt  and  of 

the  Bible . 88 

Chufu  - - 43,  44,  52 

Church  of  the  Nativity -  224 

of  the  Holy  Sepulchre . 259 

Cleopatra . — . 72,  84 

Cleopatra’s  Needles-- . 28,  59 

Constantine  the  Great  —  -224,  261 

Cook,  Canon . 95,  96 

Cook,  Tourist — 2r,  25,  63,  202,  307 

Copts- . . .  125 

Corfu . - . .  22 

Crawford,  Rev.  Mr.  . . -  372 

Cyprus . 404 

Cyril  of  Alexandria — . -  124 

Dale,  Rev.  C.  F. . . . -  378 

Damascus . 361 

Dan . 336 

David . - . . 210,  221 

Deaconesses  of  Kaiserswerth, 

in  Jerusalem -  247 

in  Beirut - - - -  379 

Dead  Sea . - .  283 

Deir  el-Arba’in . 193 

Delta - - 29 

Dendera . 71 

Dervishes,  dancing  and  howl¬ 
ing  . - . . I18 

Desert - - 133,  145 

Dickson,  Miss  Mathilda -  327 

Dixon,  Hepworth  N.  . .  226 

Dome  of  the  Rock . 255 

Donkey-boys- .  25 

Dor-Bey . 35 

Dragoman . 133 

Drake . -  295 


Easter,  Greek  and  Latin,  in 


Jerusalem . . 240 

Ebal  - . - . . 310 

Ebers,  Dr. - 44.  86,  89,  94,  97,98, 

too,  loi,  145,  152,  135,  166,  16S, 
169,  181,  191 

Edfu . . - .  78 

Edwards,  Miss  Amelia  B. -  81 

Egypt - - 19,  104 

Egyptians,  Modern . 107 

Egyptology . .  82 

El-Azhar - - —  34 


Elephantine - 

Elijah-  - . — 

Elim . . 

Elisha’s  Fountain 

Er-Raha - 

Esdraelon  —  -  -  - 

Eschol . 

Eusebius - 

Exodus  - 


. . -  80 

. -  173 

- 152,  164 

. .  305 

170,  177,  178,  180 

- 318 

— . 211 

-  261 

. 93.  152 


Falscher  — . 313 

Feiriin  - . - . 147,  168 

Ferguson,  James . -236,  268 

Fraas - - 295 

Furrer  . --268,  352 

Frederick  William  IV. . 244 


Galilee,  Lake  of-- 

Gaza - - 

Gennesaret - 

Gergesa . -  - 

Gerizim - -  — 

Gethsemane - 

Gheezeh . 

Ghurundel - 

Gilboa . . 

Gladstone . 

Gobat,  Bishop  — 

Golden  Gate . 

Golgotha - 

Graham,  Rev.  W. 
Gregory . . 


.  337 

. 203 

. 34.b  351 

. 346 

309,  310,  313 
. 273,  274 

.  43 

.  164 

. 319 

. 245 

. 254 

. .  259 

. 371 

-- . 190 


Hagar  Musa .  194 

Hamlin,  Rev.  Dr. -  398 

Hazeroth . — . 197 

Hawarah - -  133 

Hasbeiyah . 297 

Hebron  — -  210 

Helena . . 226,  261,  264 

Heliopolis . - .  56 

Hengsteuberg . 86 

Hermon . . 330 

Herodotus  — 20,  41,  44,  45,  52,  57, 
S3,  96,  99,  102 

Hieroglyphics - - 83,  166 

Hill,  Rev.  Dr. . .  395 

Hoffmann  Colonv . 247,  3S9 

Hogg,  Dr. . 69,  126,  127,  129 

Holland,  Rev.  F.  W  . -  -169,  iSo,  196 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


411 


Horeb . . 

Horus . - . . 

Howe,  Fisher - 

Huber,  Rev.  Jacob - 

Huleh,  Lake  and  Plain  of  -- 
Hyksos - 


171. 


194 
4b 
269 
328 

556 

-90,  94 


Innocents . 

Isis . . 

Islam . . 

Jabbok . - . — 

Jacob  —  2r2,  216,  297,  306,  309, 

Jacob’s  Well-- . . 

Jaffa - 219, 

Jebel  Musa - - - 

Jenin . . 

Jeremiah  — . . . 

Grotto  of . 

Jericho . 

Jerome,  St. - - - 

Jerusalem  . 232, 

Jessup,  Rev.  Dr. . 376, 

Jesuits  in  Beirut . . 

Jezreel - - 

Jews  in  Jerusalem - 

John  of  Damascus  - - 

Jordan - 296, 

Joseph - 19,  57,  68,  92,  212, 

Tomb  of . . . 

Josephus - 94,  209,  214,  236, 

34O: 

Justin  Martyr . - . . 


227 

4b 

too 

297 

312 

412 

238 

171 

318 

351 

268 

304 

228 
27 1 

381 

380 

319 
249 
279 

309 

266, 

352 

226 


- 197 

•247,  379 
■  74 
- 273 

----  351 

-350.  353 
347 


Kadesh - 

Kaiserswerth - 

Karnak  — . 

Kedron - - 

Keim . 

Kerazeh - 

Khan  Minyeh . 

Khedive  of  Egypt - 33,  104,  106 

Kitchener,  Lieut.  . 348,  350 

Klein,  Rev.  Mr. . 246 

Koran  — - - -  -36,  no 

Korte,  Jonas -  267 

Krafft,  Prof.  William - 261,  268 

Lane,  E.  W.  -  . - 116 

Lansing,  Rev.  Dr. - 126,  127,  129 

Lazarus . . 277 


Lebanon . 373 

Leja,  Wady .  194 

Lenormant - 97,  166 

Lepers’  Home  in  Jerusalem  --  248 

Lepsius,  Dr. - -40,  42,  44,  86,  89, 

97,  98,  169,  181 

Lot’s  Wife . 290 

Luxor . 74 

Lynch,  Lieut.-  -  --286,  289,  294,  301 

Macgregor  (Rob  Roy)-299,  347-350 

Machpelah . 212 

Magdala - - 339,  346 

Maghara . . 166 

Manetho . - . 82,  88,  89 

Mar  S.iba .  278 

Mara  . . 164 

March,  Rev.  E.  W. . . 378 

Mariette-Bey  --37,  48,  70,  71,  85,  89 
Martineau,  Miss  Harriet  — 79,  140 

Martha . 273 

Marvin,  Bishop . -246,  307 

Mary  of  Bethany . 273 

Mary  Magdalene- . 339-346 

Maspero - 98 

Mejdel . - . 339,  346 

Memnon - 77 

Memnonium  . . 76 

Memphis - - 65 

Mena  or  Menes  — . 70,  85 

Menephthah - 97,  loi,  166 

Merrill,  Dr.  .Selah- . 348,  350 

Minieh  . 66 

Missions,  Presbyterian  in  Egypt  126 

Episcopal  in  Palestine - 244 

Presbyterian  in  Syria  —  371,  376 
Congregational  in  Constanti¬ 
nople  and  Turkey - 395 

Moab . 302 

Mohammed  and  Mohamme¬ 
danism  - too,  399 

Mohammed’s  Night  Journey--  257 

Mohammed  Alewah  .  64 

Mohammed  Ali-- . 34,  106 

Mokateb - - - . 166 

Montalembert - 123 

Moriah - 253 

Mormons . 292 

Moses- 19,  57,  152,  I  35,  160,  172, 197 
Burial  of . - .  303 


412 


BIBLE  LANDS. 


Moslem  Fanaticism - 216 

Mosque  of  Damascus . .  369 

El-Azhar . 34 

of  Hebron . 211 

of  Mohammed  Ali- .  34 

of  Omar . . 254 

Mott,  Mrs.  Mentor . 379 

Musa,  see  Moses. 


Naaman  . . - . 365,366 

Niibulus  (Neapolis)-- . -  314 

Nakhl  . . 201 

Napoleon . 26,  43,  83,  156 

Nazareth . 320 

Nebi  Samvvil .  238 

Nebo - 302 

Negeb . 200 

Neumann,  Bernhard . 237 

Nile  - . 62,  297 

Nugb  Hawa .  170 


Obelisk - 59,  79 

Olivet . - . -  271 

On .  56 

Oriental  Habits -  12 

Osiout . - . 63,  127 

Osiris . 42,  48,  71,  80,  124 

Osirtasen . - . — 67,  97 

Palestine . 207,  383 

Palgrave  — . -  -  ■  141 

Palmer,  E.  H.  —  13S,  145,  148,  158, 
17S,  iSo,  181,  192,  198,  201,  285,  295 

Paul - -  -  -  —  362 

Peter  .  . . 358 

Pharaoh .  91 

Phil® . .  So 

Pilgrims’  Bathing-place  — 296,  301 

Pi-Ramessu -  99 

Pi-Tum . -  99 

Plato  - . 57 

Poole,  R.  Stuart . 89,  90,  95,  97 

Porter,  Dr.  J.  E. - 152,  156,  180, 

197,  350.  364,  365.  371 

Post,  Dr.  .  . . 377 

Pritchett,  W. . .  204 

Prudentius  . 220,  227 

Pyramids -  39 

Quarantania . . 306 


Quaresmius 


350 


Rameseum .  76 

Rameses  II.  - 37,  65,  75,  77,  80, 

97.  too 

Rameses  III. .  77 

Ras  Sufsafeh . 174,  177 

Rachel’s  Tomb - 220 

Rawlinson - 40,  89,  90 

Red  Sea  -  -  .  . .  152 

Religious  Liberty  in  Turkey--  402 

Repliidim  - . .  --169,  183 

Ritter . 176,  268,  351 

Robert  College . 398 

Robinson,  Dr.  Edward  -  -  ■  152,  157, 

179.  197.  222,  267,  287,  288,  289, 


294.  3 '3.  347.  35°.  352 


Robson,  Rev.  S. . 371 

Rosen,  Consul . 215,  268 

Rosetta  Stone -  86 

Rouge,  De . -42,  85,  97 

Ruckert,  Friedrich - -  230 

Ruskin . . 471; 

Ruth . - . 221 


Sabas,  St. . . . 279 

Sakkara .  65 

Salt  Lake  in  Utah . 292 

Salt  Sea . - . 283 

Samaria . .  308 

Samaria,  City  of . 316 

Samaritans - - 314 

Samaritan  Pentateuch  - . 315 

Saulcy,  De . 267,  291,  295 

Scarabaeus -  41 

Sebaste . - . 316 

Serapeum -  65 

Serbal . . 169,  181 

Sesostris,  see  Rameses  II. 

Sethi  I. . . --70,  76,  97 

Shaftesbury . - . 393 

Sharpe . - . 167,  180 

Shechem---- . 309,  315 

Shiloh . . . 31 1 

Shishak . - - -  75 

.Shubeibeh . 360 

Shunem . 319 

Simon  Magus . ---  311 

Sinai,  Mt. - 171 

Sinai,  Convent  of  Mt. .  184 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


413 


Sinaitic  Bible  Codex . . 189 

Sinaitic  Inscriptions . 166,  181 

Sinaitic  Peninsula - - 145 

Smyth,  Piazzi -  50 

Solomon’s  Pools - - 218 

Solomon,  Temple  of- . —  254 

Sona . - .  193 

Sphinx . - .  47 

Spinoza .  277 

Spiridion,  St. . —  22 


Stanley,  Dean - 24,  79,  163,  169, 

170,  178,  180,  192,  193,  197,  213, 
242,  302,  312,  326,  351,  357,  367 
Suez . . 150 


Transfiguration . 332,  335 

Tristram,  Canon - 2S9,  295,  351 

Troutvetter - 129 

Turquoise  Mines  in  the  Sina¬ 
itic  Peninsula . 145 

Tyre  . . 375 

Useit . —  165 

Usertesen  I. . —  67,  97 

Vale  of  Siddim . 287 

Van  Dyck,  Rev.  Dr. . 376,  380 

Vartan,  Dr. . 329 

Vigoroux . - . 42,  87,  97 


'I'abighah- . 348 

Tabor . 330 

Taiyibeh .  165 

Talitha  Kumi . 247 

Tappe,  Mr.  and  Mrs. - 248 

Taylor,  Miss  Jesse . 379 

Tell  Hum . . 348 

Teyaha  Bedawin - 201 

Thebes .  75 

Thompson,  Mrs.  Bowen . 379 

Thomson,  Dr.  \V.  M. - 214,  294, 

346,  375-  376 

Thothmes - - 95,  96 

Tiberias — . 339 

Tih,  Desert  of -  199 

Till,  Temple  of . .  65 

Tischendorf - 176,  189,  191 

Tobler,  Titus - 250,  267,  322 

Towarah  Bedawin - - 137 


Wady .  147 

Wailing-place  of  the  Jews - 250 

Warren,  Capt. - - -235,  254 

Washburn,  Rev.  Dr. - 398 

Waters  of  Merom - -  356 

Whately,  Miss  M.  L. -  128 

Whittier . 390 

Wilderness . . . 133,  145 

Wilkinson . 89,  97 

Williams,  Rev.  George  - 26S 

Wilson,  Capt.  iSo.  254,  342,  349,  351 

Young — —  — .  85 

Yule,  Dr. . — . 129 


Zeller,  Rev.  J. . .  328 

Zimmermann,  Carl - 235 

Zincke,  Barham . --50,  78 

Zoan . — . 94,  99 


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